Nepal government to close 22 entry points with India amid COVID-19 surge

Looking at the critical COVID-19 condition in India, the Nepal government on Saturday decided to close 22 border points with the country. Now only 13 border points between Nepal and India will remain operational.

The decision came after the COVID Crisis Management Coordination Committee (CCMC) on Friday recommended to the Council of Ministers to shut down 22 out of a total of 35 border points between Nepal and India, according to officials.

India's daily COVID-19 tally crossed four lakh milestone, while the death toll rose to 2,11,853 with 3,523 fresh fatalities, according to the date updated by the Union Health Ministry on Saturday.

Nepal has reported 323,187 COVID-19 cases and 3,279 deaths so far, but cases are going up at breakneck speed. The country reported more than 5,000 new cases on Thursday and Friday.

A 15-day prohibitory border was enforced in the national capital Kathmandu and other districts in Nepal on Thursday, as the country grapples to contain the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Besides Kathmandu, the prohibitory order has been put in place in Bhaktapur and Lalitpur districts from 6 am on Thursday till midnight of May 12, according to a press release.

(With Agency Inputs)