Republica Morning Brief: Oct 21

Despite the federal government’s recent decision of not bearing the costs of the treatment of COVID-19 patients, Lumbini Province government has announced to provide free of cost treatment to COVID-19 patients across the province. Chief Minister of Lumbini Province, Shankar Pokhrel on Tuesday clarified that the provision of free of cost treatment to COVID-19 patients with symptoms is still available in the four designated COVID-19 hospitals in the province. The COVID-19 hospitals set up by the provincial government are located at Ayurveda Hospital, Beljhundi, Dang, COVID-19 Hospital in Butwal, Bhim Hospital in Bhairahawa and Bheri Hospital in Nepalgunj. Citing the federal government’s decision as an inappropriate move, Chief Minister Pokhrel also said that the provincial government will not revoke its earlier decision to provide free of cost treatment to COVID-19 patients as they have already allocated adequate budget for the purpose. “We will not charge any fees for COVID-19 tests as well,” he said adding that it goes against the universal principle of human rights to deny treatment to people during a pandemic.

Police on Tuesday publicized seven persons claiming they were smugglers involved in murdering Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Govinda BK and Constable Ram Bahadur Saud. The accused were made public during a press conference organized on Tuesday afternoon. According to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) at the District Police Office (DPO), Kailali, Dilip Deuba, the arrested persons have confessed to the crime, stating that they had murdered the two police personnel as “they intervened when some goods were being smuggled from India to Nepal.” The arrested have been identified as Rohit Rana aka Parku, 31, Rajendra Rana, 20, Suresh Rana aka Chor, 30, Raj Kumar Rana aka Gabbar, 25, Niwas Rana, 22 and Dalram Rana, 29, of Dhangadhi Submetropolitan City-10 and 25-year-old Gopal Rana of Dhangadhi-11.

Dr Baburam Bhattarai has been named the chairman of the federal council of Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP). An executive committee meeting of the party which is currently underway in the capital made a decision to this effect, according to Rekha Yadav, a central committee member of the party. However, the party has yet to make a formal public announcement of the decision. Dr Bhattarai, who is also a former prime minister, was named the party’s senior leader when his party (Samajbadi Party) signed a unification deal with Rastriya Janata Party Nepal to form the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP), in late April.

As many as 3,093 new cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were confirmed in Nepal on Tuesday, the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) reported. Including the cases detected in the past 24 hours, Nepal’s COVID-19 case tally has jumped to 139,129. The number also includes 96,609 total recoveries and 765 cases of fatalities. The recovery rate against the disease in Nepal stands at 69.4 percent, health ministry’s Spokesperson Dr Jageshwar Gautam said. According to Dr Gautam, 13,861 real-time PCR tests were conducted in the past 24 hours. A total of 1,314,779 PCR tests have been carried out so far since January 23 to confirm the infection of COVID-19. Meanwhile, the Kathmandu Valley on Tuesday added 1,702 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total number to 58,972. Of the new cases confirmed in the past 24 hours, Kathmandu district alone reported 1,431 cases.

All commercial banks in the country have decided to close their branches for five days during the Dashain vacation, the Nepal Bankers Association (NBA) said on Tuesday. According to Anil Sharma, executive officer of NBA, all branches of all commercial banks will remain closed from October 23 to 27. In previous years, some branches of the commercial banks would remain open even during the festival vacation. But this year, they decided to remain closed owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sharma added that the banks are promoting digital services so the customers have been advised to opt for online banking in the times of a pandemic.

The District Administration Office (DAO), Kathmandu, has urged one and all in the district not to come outside of their houses unless necessary during the celebration of Dashain festival. The DAO has issued a directive amidst the arrival of two of the major festivals of the country. People visit their relatives and travel from one place to another during this period. Earlier, the government had urged the general public to avoid unnecessary gatherings and tours and to stay where they are and celebrate Dashain and Tihar. If the health safety protocols are flouted, transmission of COVID-19 at a higher rate is feared during this festive season.

A minor, who was kidnapped from Imadol in Lalitpur district on Monday evening, was rescued by the police within three hours of the incident. The eight-year-old girl named Anukha Shah, who was kidnapped at around 7:30 in the evening on Monday, was rescued by the Satdobato Metropolitan Police Circle at 10:30PM, informed Senior Superintendent of Police, Tek Prasad Rai, who is also the chief of Lalitpur Metropolitan Police Circle. “The family of the kidnapped minor was informed about the incident at 8 in the evening. The girl was successfully rescued after three hours,” he said, adding that police have already arrested three kidnappers.