Kathmandu, April 7

Government has unveiled a new online portal as a one-door system to provide all kind of national information and data related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has also introduced a new mobile application that will track real time information about people in isolation or at quarantine.

Both the web-portal and mobile application were launched by the Minister of Home Affairs, Ram Bahadur Thapa, during a function at the ministry on Monday.

People can now log into the website of National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority or directly log on to covid19.ndrrma.gov.np to get detailed information about the COVID 19 situation in the country. The website shows up-to-date number of active cases, number of people recovered, total deaths, and number of people quarantined or isolated. It also displays province-wise data.

The ministry said that district and local government-wise data will also be incorporated in the site in a few days. Similarly, the portal also holds the record of total number of people who returned to the country since January, along with total number of swabs collected and total number of swabs tested. Similarly, it has information on total number of isolation beds, quarantine beds, and total ambulances.

Youth Innovative Lab (YI Lab) that developed the website said that even general public who are in quarantine facilities or have travelled home from abroad can update their information on the website. YI Lab executive director, Pradip Khatiwada said, "The collected information will be secure with the government and the government can instantly access information about those possible COVID 19 cases and their exact location." He also said that a team of 19 IT experts developed the system after working for five days and five nights.

A press release issued by the ministry later said that since the government can collect information geologically, it would be helpful to introduce emergency plans to fight against the disease.

Meanwhile, the government also introduced a mobile application called Co Buddy which will give real time information about the movement of people placed in quarantine. For this, those in quarantine or isolation facilities need to install the application and have access to the internet. This will then automatically provide information about the movement of patients.

Nearby security bodies can track any unauthorised movement through the application. Likewise, with the use of the app, patients can also notify doctors or security personnel if they feel uncomfortable during their stay.