By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, July 20: A meeting of the Directive Committee of Covid-19 Crisis Management Centre-Operation (CCMC-Ops) held on Sunday instructed the Ministry of Health and Population to devise next level of plans and programmes to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have not recommended the government to extend or lift the lockdown and resume the international flights and border restriction, but advised the Health Ministry to prepare plan and present in the next Cabinet meeting most likely to be held on Monday,” Secretary and coordinator of CCMC-Ops Mahendra Guragain told The Rising Nepal by telephone.
The meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Ishwar Pokhrel and attended by other concerned ministers had, however, deduced that the threat of virus and its possible transmission in the community had gone down significantly.
“Although no such specific decisions were made by the meeting, the CCMC office bearers discussed the possible scenario and situation if the present lockdown imposed till July 22 is lifted,” Guragain said.
Whatever plans and strategies the government has adopted to minimise the transmission risk of the virus till today have become effective as the virus caseload has been going down in Nepal and has arrived almost at two digits now, he said.
“The meeting also held discussions about the alarming rate of virus infection in India and possible measures Nepal should take to control the virus if it spikes here like in India,” Secretary Guragain said.
“Every day, we are rescuing almost about 1,000 people from abroad and keeping them safely in quarantines, and they may pose risk to the society at any time as there is a chance of transmission of the virus without having any symptom,” he said.
Secretary Guragain also said that the concerned ministries were also recommended to prepare and come up with their planning and report the same to the Health Ministry to take the final decision from the Cabinet level.
The directive committee headed by DPM Pokhrel has the Ministers from Ministry of Home Affairs, General Administration and Federal Affairs, Industry Commerce and Supplies, Finance, Agriculture and Livestock Development, Foreign Affairs and Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation as its members.