Kathmandu, April 26

The government has extended the nationwide lockdown till May 7 to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country.

A meeting of the Council of Ministers held today in Baluwatar decided to extend the nationwide lockdown for another 10 days as the risk of the spread of COVID-19 pandemic was still high, according to Surya Thapa, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s press adviser.

This is the fourth time the government has extended the lockdown which was imposed on March 24 after the second case of COVID-19 was reported. The last time it was extended till April 27.

Border crossing points, meanwhile, will remain closed till May 13; international flights will also remain suspended till May 13, according to Thapa.

Yesterday, the High-Level Coordination Committee for the Prevention and Control of COVID-19 decided to suspend domestic and international flights till May 15 as a precautionary measure against the spread of coronavirus.

Earlier, the committee had decided to suspend domestic and international flights till April 30. The committee had also recommended that the government-imposed nationwide lockdown be extended by another week.

According to Thapa, border entry points will be monitored strictly. However, transportation of essential goods through border entry points will continue as usual, while movement of people will be barred.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on April 27, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.