KATHMANDU: With the spike in coronavirus cases, the government has imposed a prohibitory order for 15 days in the major cities of the country.

A cabinet meeting held on Monday evening at Baluwatar decided to impose the order until May 14 in a bid to curb the pandemic.

“The cabinet meeting has decided to impose a prohibitory order for 15 days in view of the increasing cases of COVID-19,” said Minister for Youth and Sports Dawa Tamang, adding, “Even though the Chief District Officers of the Kathmandu Valley imposed lockdown for a week, the cabinet meeting extended it to the period of 15 days.”

Similarly, the government has also decided to establish holding centers in eight different places with the capacity of 1,000 beds each. The Nepal Army has been entrusted with this responsibility, according to Minister for Health and Population Hridayesh Tripathi.

The meeting has decided to provide concession in custom duty to any firms willing to import oxygen cylinders to avoid scarcity of oxygen for the treatment of COVID-19 infected patients.

The cabinet has also decided to close schools across the country on the recommendation of the COVID-19 Crisis and Management Center (CCMC).

According to the decision, the respective local administration can impose prohibitory orders in hilly and mountainous districts with 200 cases and in Terai districts with 500 cases. It was recommended by the CCMC.

Meanwhile, domestic and international air travel will not be suspended for the time being. Nepalis returning from international flights will have to undergo a mandatory 10-day home quarantine and foreigner mandatory hotel quarantine.