Govt to conduct rapid testing in three districts

Kathmandu, April 4

The government today decided to conduct rapid mass testing for coronavirus in Kailali, Kanchanpur and Baglung districts where new COVID-19 positive cases have been found.

Minister of Communications and Information Technology Yuba Raj Khatiwada said at a press briefing that the government would conduct rapid mass tests in three districts and laboratory tests of suspected COVID-19 patients determined by the rapid test would be done by the PCR method to confirm results.

Khatiwada said the government’s decision to conduct rapid tests in the three districts was aimed at preventing the spread of the deadly disease.

The government also decided to immediately provide the required medical equipment to hospitals to enable them to effectively diagnose and treat COV- ID-19 patients.

Khatiwada said doctors and health professionals would be fully protected while diagnosing and treating COVID-19 patients. He said doctors and health professionals would have to use medical equipment as per the endorsed protocol. Anybody who creates security problems for doctors and health professionals will be punished pursuant to the prevailing laws.

The government also directed the agencies concerned to arrange security for health professionals deployed in hospitals to diagnose and treat COV- ID-19 patients.

The government also decided to strictly enforce the current lockdown preventing movement of people from one province to another, from one district to another and from one local level to another.

The government also decided to appoint Shankar Kumar Shrestha as expert in the Victims’ Protection Committee and Rabindra Bhattarai and Kunsan Lama as experts in the Quantum of Punishment Determination Committee.