The government of Nepal has asked its citizens to avoid religious gatherings as festivities fervor has begun peaking. In addition, the government has urged its citizens to maintain social distance as COVID-19 continues to hover around.
As per the Home Ministry, the Chief District Officers of all districts were directed to curb religious gatherings. The directive comes hot on the heels of the numerous religious gatherings on the sacred Hindu festival Janai Purnima.
Innumerable Hindus have started visiting the Pashupati temple today. The holy site had not witnessed such a massive attendance in two years as COVID-19 cases surged at that time. The government opined that such festivities could lead to massive infections.
Tomorrow, another set of festivities is lined up for Newari people in Kathmandu Valley and other cities to celebrate the Gai Jatra festival. All the festivities are happening in full swing despite Kathmandu Valley being on partial lockdown.
Also Read: Major Nepali Festivals – A Mixture of Culture & Rich Heritage
Phanindra Pokharel, Joint Secretary at Home Ministry, stated that government didn’t want the festivities to become the epicenter of infections. “As we are no longer in the mood to impose blanket lockdown, we are discussing ways to impose a smart lockdown, which will be based on scientific methods,” Pokharel said.
The smart lockdown would label the areas with higher infection rates as zones ranging from red to green, with red being the most infected area and green being safe. The labeling will be done on various parameters, which range from infection rate to mortality rate.
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