KATHMANDU, JUNE 19

The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued Safety Guidelines for Lockdown Management, restricting people from moving out of their homes between 10:00 pm and 5:00 am, unless it is urgent.

The ministry added that the guidelines have been issued to ensure public safety since the lockdown was eased recently. It said the risk for coronavirus transmission was still high and people needed to practise self-restraint.

The guidelines add that no more than 15 people should attend weddings, death rituals, bratabandha, religious activities and other social and cultural functions. In all such functions social distancing norms have to be followed.

A maximum of 10 workers will be allowed in factories, industries, physical infrastructure construction, development works being conducted in an area and productive activities under the supervision of a manager.

Service providers have to run offices in two shifts following social distancing, health and hygiene norms. Temperature of anyone entering office premises has to be checked at the entrance and they have to be provided with hand sanitiser before letting them in.

People working in offices must wear masks, maintain a distance of two metres from each other, use hand sanitiser frequently and work in a room with proper ventilation.

Office meeting should be attended by a minimum number of people and should be as short as possible.

The guidelines also discourage use of currency notes and encourages online transactions, use of debit and credit cards and bank vouchers.

People should not venture out of homes/workplaces unless necessary, maintain two metres of distance from others while travelling, use face mask compulsorily while delivering services and keep sanitiser handy, add the guidelines.

Elderly, people with chronic diseases, pregnant women and children below 10 years of age should be encouraged to stay at home.

Vehicles used for transporting goods must not carry people other than those engaged in that service.

Those violating the rules will be punished as per the law, the ministry has said.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on June 20, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.