Dhading, March 31

Local governments in Dhading have intensified their campaign to collect the details of persons who have returned home from abroad in the past couple of weeks.

According to Netrawati Dawajong Rural Municipality Chairperson Durga Kumar Shakya, the campaign was meant to prevent possible transmission of coronavirus in the community from the returnees.

“As even a small negligence on our part could put our entire family and community in harm’s way, we have reached out to one and all who came home from India and other countries from the third week of March and urged them to stay in mandatory quarantine as precaution against coronavirus,” said Shakya.

From Netrawati Dawajong itself, a youth has been placed in isolation at Teku, Kathmandu after he was confirmed to be carrying the virus, seven others are in a quarantine facility in the district headquarters Dhadingbesi. Yet, another 11 persons are in quarantine in the village itself.

So far, six of the 13 local levels in the district have made public the data of returnees, according to which, 74 persons have returned from abroad in Netrawati Dawajong, 48 in Tripurasundari, 32 in Benighat Rorang and 28 in Gangajamuna rural municipalities since mid-March.

The number of people returning home during that time in Dhunibesi Municipality and Thakre Rural Municipality stood at 18 and 14 respectively.

Besides the collection of the details, the local representatives’ teams, accompanied by health workers, are also examining returnees’ health and urging them to stay in quarantine, either at home or at the government-built facilities.

“Perhaps, learning about the direction of the home ministry, which has asked all who have returned home from March 14 onwards to get their health checked up and to remain in mandatory 14-day quarantine, the returnees have now started coming into contact on their own,” said Tripurasundari Rural Municipality Chair Shambhu Kumar Thapa.

“As for those who didn’t approach us, we reached out to them in person, counselled them and convinced them to stay at home or in government-built quarantine facilities for 14 days,” Thapa said.