Kathmandu, Mar. 31: Ministry of Health and Population has directed the hospitals not to halt any kind of emergency service.

The Ministry spokesperson Dr Bikas Devkota, in the regular media briefing today, directed all government-owned, community-based and private hospitals not to stop any kind of emergency service in the country in the critical situation prevailing lately across the world due to deadly COVID-19 outbreak.

The Ministry came with this direction as some of the hospitals were reportedly not admitting people coming with complaints of fever. He added that the government was providing emergency equipment and human resource therefore no patient should be neglected from the treatment.

Spokesperson Devkota further shared that the Ministry was intensifying the contact tracing on the people likely to have contracted the virus after coming in contact with the infected ones.

He said that the COVID-19 test should follow the WHO and Ministry standards adding that the rapid test would not reliable as per the WHO standard.

The Ministry has established Corona virus test lab in Pokhara from today and preparation was on to establish similar labs in Dhangadhi, Surkhet Butwal and Janakpur as required machines and kits were already sent there.