Nationwide lock-down
The Himalayan Times
26 March 2020
Nationwide lockdown
The decision of the government to
impose a nationwide lockdown for a week starting from today March 24, is a welcome step, albeit still a bit late,
in an effort to control the spread of COVID-19 “Week-long nationwide lockdown
from today” (THT, March 24, Page 1). Had it been decided a bit earlier to block
northern and southern border points and stop all the international flights, the
chances of this deadly virus entering Nepal would have been much lesser. It looks
as if the government would not have dared to act on its own to seal the border
points if the World Health Organization (WHO) had not advised it to do so
“Borders sealed” (THT, March 24, Page 4).
Two imported COVID-19 cases-one
from China’s Wuhan city and the latest one coming from France - have forced the
government to take this bold decision. Although, no other cases have so far
been detected in the country, it cannot be easily ruled out that there will be
no more infected cases inside the country considering the entrance of this 19
year old girl from France who flew in with 205 other passengers whose
identities are still not known to the government “Nepal confirms second
COVID-19 case” (THT, March 24, Page 1). Is it possible that some of them who
might have infected with COVID-19 are roaming around infecting people in their surroundings?
They should be traced out as soon as possible and proper investigation made to see
if they are infected.
Even the governments of the developed
countries are struggling to save their citizens from this pandemic. Despite
their well-developed strategic efforts, utilising their trained health
personnel and abundant resources, thousands of their people have lost their
lives. Is our government fully prepared to handle the worst situation should
there be an outbreak of COVID-19? I hope it is and hope it will also soon bring
out an economic package that focuses on the common people, daily wages
workers, small entrepreneurs and other economically affected groups who are directly
or indirectly affected by this pandemic disease.
Rai
Biren Bangdel
Maharajgunj
