Kathmandu, August 23 Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba issued a press release today, urging the government to conduct polymerase chain reaction test to diagnose COVID-19 in all 77 districts. He also demanded to expand scope of PCR tests at community level. Deuba’s statement comes at a time when COVID-19 positive cases are rising sharply and people with no history of travel are also testing positive for the virus. Deuba urged the government to utilise the current lockdown period to increase its preparedness against the virus. The NC president also asked the government to manage COVID-19 hospitals more efficiently, set up adequate number of COVID-19 hospitals and isolation wards and arrange adequate number of ventilators for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The NC President demanded transparency in the procurement process and urged the government to procure only those medical equipment that met the procurement criteria. Stating that poor handling of quarantine centres across the country has led to unprecedented rise in the COVID-19 cases, Deuba urged the government to manage quarantine centres efficiently and ensure they met the standard criteria. Deuba said lack of clarity in government’s policy and practice to repatriate Nepalis stranded in foreign countries had added to their woes. He urged the government to repatriate Nepali migrants stranded in foreign countries using Foreign Employment Welfare Fund, without charging any money to the migrant workers. The NC president also urged his party cadres, other political parties and organisations to remain active in the fight against COVID-19. Deuba urged all citizens to fight COVID-19, unitedly. He said frontline health workers had been working with high morale and everybody should respect their contribution to the fight against COVID-19 pandemic. He commended the works of frontline health workers and urged the government to provide necessary equipment to them and create a favourable environment for them to work. Deuba said he felt sad when he saw reports in the media about health professionals being discouraged by locals. “I urge all three levels of the government to not let any kind of misunderstanding and conflict emerge between health professionals and locals,” Deuba added. He said that today the entire world was trying to win the battle against COVID-19, under the leadership of health professionals. “It is our duty to keep the morale of health professionals, who are rendering their service for the welfare of human beings, high. I urge all ladies and gentlemen to seriously accept this reality,” he added. Deuba said he valued the contribution of health professionals, hospitals’ cleaning crew, who were working by risking their and their families’ lives and media professionals, who were working regularly to inform the public even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Feature image: File A version of this article appears in e-paper on August 24, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.