BAITADI: Market areas inside the Patan municipality in Baitadi have been sealed off for a week, beginning from today bearing in mind the growing COVID-19 cases in the area.

An all-party meeting earlier decided to shut down markets till June 29 in a bid to stem the further spread of the virus, as said by mayor Keshab Bahadur Chand.

”With the government decision to ease the lockdown, people’s movements in market areas went up, increasing the risk of infection and it prompted us to seal markets to mitigate the risk,” he said.

Anyone if found violating the new rule will be fined.

To date, the virus has been confirmed on eight people in the municipality while one has already returned home after recovery.

Remaining seven are under the isolation care, according to municipality health section chief Madan Singh Mahara.

Banks and financial institutions inside the municipality have been requested to open only three days in a week from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. RSS