KATHMANDU: A meeting of the Chief Districts Officers (CDOs) of the three districts in the capital has decided to extend the lockdown till July 25 by not allowing the long-route public vehicles to operate.

According to Kali Prasad Parajuli, the Chief District Officer of Kathamndu, today’s joint meeting of the CDOs of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur have extended the prohibitory orders relaxing them slightly more than before.

Parajuli informed that both the private and public vehicles can travel to or from Kathmandu provided they abide by all health protocols issued by the government.

According to the decision, pharmaceuticals and other health-related stores will be allowed to operate 24 hours.

Likewise, other shops and groceries will be allowed to open only until 7 pm. However, people are required to follow health protocols.

In the case of restaurants and fast food, only take-away and home delivery services are allowed.

The shops which were allowed to stay open till 6 PM can open till 7 PM from Friday.

With both domestic and international flights coming into operation already, the entrepreneurs of public vehicles have also been exerting pressure on the government to allow the operation of long-route vehicles.

The CDOs are of the view that day-to-day life should be made easier prioritizing economic activities by relaxing the prohibitory order further with the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Public vehicles with more than 25 seats have already come into operation in the Kathmandu Valley.

The prohibitory order which was imposed on April 29 is expiring on July 15.