The District Administration Office, Kavrepalanchowk has banned crowd gatherings around market areas of six municipalities in the district.

Concerned municipalities have issued a notice urging the people to be vigilant citing increasing coronavirus infections in the district and that people’s crowd, conferences, and seminars, among other activities could further spread the virus.

The Banepa Municipality issued a notice on Friday stating that all services except emergency ones will be closed from Saturday. It has also directed to shut all kinds of businesses, except urgent ones, from Saturday until further notice.

Similarly, the Panauti Municipality has also urged people not to stroll outside except for urgent work. Mayor Bhim Neupane said that the municipality had stopped all non-essential services provided by municipality and ward offices until further notice.

The Mandandeupur Municipality has also banned the operation of services other than essential ones. Manoj Adhikari, an official of the municipality, informed that dairy, fruits, vegetables, fuel and water shops as well as pharmacies were allowed to operate that too from 12 noon to 2:00 pm every day.

Similarly, local milk collectors have been requested to collect their product by maintaining physical/social distance between 6:00 am and to 8:00 am every day.

After three people tested positive for COVID-19 in Namobuddha Municipality of the district for first time on Friday, the municipality has issued a notice urging people to not leave their house except for urgent work and to adopt health safety protocols.

Mayor Tanka Prasad Timalsina has requested locals not to panic as the three infected persons people were kept in the municipality’s quarantine center and were not integrated in the community.

Similarly, the Panchkhal Municipality has stated that all the services except essential ones will be suspended from today till August 22, keeping in mind the possibility of COVID-19 spread in the community-level.

Chief Administrative Officer of the municipality, Lok Bahadur Bhandari, said in a statement on Friday that essential services like health, dairy, vegetables, food and other items would be open only from 6:00 to 10:00 in the morning.

Financial institutions, hotels, restaurants, salons, beauty parlors and party palaces have been completely shut.

Similarly, Laxmi Danuwar, coordinator of the Judicial Committee, said that the works at the municipality’s Judicial Committee had been postponed until further notice.