Coronavirus cases may peak between May and July: Health Minister

KATHMANDU: The government has estimated the coronavirus cases to peak in May-July.

Addressing the House of Representatives (HoR) Monday, Health and Population Minister Hridayesh Tripathi said, “If the public health standards are not strictly enforced now then COVID-19 cases could hit a new peak in May-July.”

The cases of the virus had peaked in October last year. The caseload stood at 5,743 on October 21.

Minister Tripathi said, “The government was prepared to implement all necessary measures to avoid enforcing another lockdown.”

However, he added that there was no reason to worry for the time being provided everyone abide by health safety regulations and take caution on the pandemic spread in neighboring India.

“The vaccine against coronavirus has been administered to nearly 1.8 million people and the government aims to inoculate around 6 million people by July-end,” informed Tripathi. “The government has set aside Rs 48 billion to procure vaccines.”

He  assured the lawmakers that the allocated budget would be enough.

“We assure that the budget will suffice for the purpose, we may not need all,” he said.