KATHMANDU: The Council of Ministers has decided to extend the lockdown period that started from March 24 to April 27.

The Baluwatar meeting of the Council of Ministers held on Tuesday afternoon took the decisions to extend the lockdown period till April 27.

After finding the cases of coronavirus from the foreign returnees, the country is in lockdown since March 24.

The government has extended the lockdown period three times so far, and the lockdown period of the third time is expiring on Wednesday morning.

Taking into consideration the new COVID-19 cases in Kathmandu and other districts outside the valley, the government has gone for the decision of lockdown extension.

Earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) had warned all its members not to underestimate the pandemic as the outbreak could be fatal if not taken seriously.