Damak, August 16

A week-long lockdown has been imposed in Damak of Jhapa district beginning from tonight.

Coronavirus Prevention, Control and Coordination Committee decided to this effect today.

The committee said infections at the community level had been increasing. There will be complete lockdown till midnight of August 22.

Dairies will be allowed to open from 6:00am to 8:00am while banks, financial institutions, grocery shops and all other businesses will remain closed during the lockdown, said Damak Municipality Deputy Mayor Geeta Adhikari.

People are not allowed to leave home except for most essential purposes, ambulances should take permission from the respective ward if they are required to carry patient and no vehicle, including motorcycles, are allowed to ply for a week.

Yesterday, seven people had tested positive for the virus taking the tally of infected to 20. It is found that the infected had contacts with the community and contact tracing is in the offing, said Deputy Mayor Adhikari.

Prior to this, Damak Chamber of Commerce and Industry had decided to shut all trade/business activities except for the most essential ones after midnight today.

The business community here has started closing down shops voluntarily bearing in mind the spread of the virus in the community.

Hospitals and clinics here have decided to suspend OPD services. Some of the infected were found to have visited health facilities, earlier.

Patient flow for OPD services is obviously higher and this creates more risk of infection and hospitals and other health institutions have decided to close the OPD owing to this risk, according to Adhikari.

A medic at Mechinagar of the district had tested positive for the virus a few days ago.

Travel history of one of the infected persons showed that the patient had visited Damak-based private Damak Hospital and Research Centre. Thus, peoples’ movement in the hospital has been restricted.

A vegetable supplier diagnosed with the virus was known to have visited a hospital here.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on August 17, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.