Kathmandu, August 24 All local governments inside Kathmandu valley have jointly decided to shut their offices until August 31, in a bid to curb the rapid spread of coronavirus inside the valley. The local governments, however, have said essential services will be provided during this period. A meeting of Kathmandu Valley Municipality Forum today, declaring the unanimous decision, also pledged to increase contact tracing of those people who come into close contact with those contracting the virus. The forum consists of two metropolis, 16 municipalities and four rural municipalities. Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Bidya Sundar Shakya, who chairs the forum, said at the meeting today that the decision would likely break the chain of COVID-19 spread. Kathmandu district, now has over 2,700 cases, the largest infected district in the country. The number includes 177 new COVID-19 cases recorded in the last 24 hours. The forum has also agreed to work on a single protocol regarding, identification of infected people, contact tracing, isolation centres and consulting hospitals in all local governments. Mayor Shakya said they would identify people as ‘Suspected, Probable and Confirmed’ and work accordingly to curb the virus spread. “Since our local governments are tightly connected, our joint effort to identify suspected, probable and confirmed cases and act accordingly could curb this pandemic,” Mayor Shakya said. He also said COVID-19 tests would be increased around the hotspots inside the valley. Madan Sundar Shrestha, secretary of the forum and Mayor of Madhyapur Thimi Municipality, said they were planning to contact-trace more than 20,000 people in the valley and place them in quarantines. All three district administration offices of the valley have also shut their offices except for emergency tasks until August 31. A version of this article appears in e-paper on August 25, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.