By Purushottam P. Khatri

Kathmandu, Mar. 23: The government Sunday decided to close all borders of Nepal with India and China for a week from Monday.
A meeting of the Council of Ministers held at the official residence of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in Baluwatar this evening took the decision to bar the human movements across the borders.
Minister for Finance Dr Yubaraj Khatiwada, who is also looking after the portfolio of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, said that the government had taken the decision after the border points in the southern Nepal became highly sensitive. COVID-19 cases are on rise in India in recent days.
The decision would come into effect from 10:00 a.m. on Monday, according to Minister Dr Khatiwada. The Home Ministry in this regard was given necessary direction to issue circulars to all the District Administration Offices, he said.
The government has also decided to create a central fund of Rs. 500 million to fight against the coronavirus within the country. Besides Ministers and PM’s donation, the government has also urged all common people from across the country to donate money as per their will, according to Minister Dr Khatiwada. “All the ministers will contribute their one month salary to the fund created for fighting the coronavirus,” Minister Dr Khatiwada said.
The fund created by the government would be utilised in purchasing all health related equipment like personal protective equipments (PPEs), masks, thermometer, ventilators, and other required tools and kits, he said.
Also, the Cabinet meeting decided to fix the Armed Police Force’s Balambu-Satungal-based APF hospital as a formal hospital of the country to treat coronavirus patients. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, during his address to the nation on Friday, had declared that all the international flights coming to Nepal would be closed from Sunday midnight for 13 days and long-route vehicles plying across Nepal would be halted from Monday. This was the first Cabinet meeting held after Prime Minister Oli underwent his second kidney transplant in Kathmandu on March 4. No Cabinet meeting had held after March 1.
Also, the government had decided to keep three hospitals, namely Bir Hospital, BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences of Dharan, and Dhulikhel hospital as alternative hospitals to treat the people infected with COVID-19.
Asked how the decision to close the borders was made unilaterally, Minister Dr Khatiwada said that the decision was taken after holding discussions with the Indian counterparts. “The borders are not locked permanently, as it is a regular process in case of any emergency like during elections in both the nations,” he said.
The Cabinet meeting also decided to deploy foreign assistance received by the government on various dates.