Since Nepal has seen a notable spike in the number of coronavirus infections following the lifting of the lockdown some three weeks ago, the government needs to ramp up testing and strictly enforce preventive measures such as maintaining social distancing and wearing face masks. Reviewing the adverse impact of the 120-day-long nationwide lockdown imposed since March 24, the government is not now in a position to go for any tougher restriction to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. However, local governments have recently re-imposed lockdowns in different cities like Birtamod, Biratnagar, Janakpur, Birgunj and Nepalgunj after the rise in the number of coronavirus infections there. Needless to say, the transmission of the contagion and the subsequent lockdown had dealt a severe blow to our economy. Millions of people working in the informal economic sector have become jobless due to the pandemic. Many more are also on the verge of losing the means of their livelihoods.

In such a situation, it is essential for the government, private sector, civil society and common people to move ahead more cautiously to achieve the twin goals of containing the pandemic and reviving the economy. The government has started holding consultations with health and economic experts as well as opposition political parties to collect suggestions for dealing with the pandemic in a more effective manner. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli held a meeting with the experts and political leaders at his official residence at Baluwatar on Tuesday. This was certainly a welcome initiative. The participants called for disseminating the information about the contagion in a way that it lessens panic and raises awareness among people. They also suggested that the government should strictly execute the provisions of wearing masks and maintaining physical distance. In addition, they urged the government to expand virus tests and quarantine all the people returning from abroad to control the virus spread.

Addressing the meeting, Prime Minister Oli called on people to join hands with the government to battle the pandemic successfully as they were soldiers in that fight. He said that the citizens’ alertness and effective implementation of health protocols would be instrumental in conquering the deadly disease. He expressed his dissatisfaction over the trend among some sections of the society to use the pandemic and national crisis as an opportunity to criticise the government. He, however, said that the government would welcome constructive suggestions for coping with the pandemic. Saying that the country’s health infrastructure had been improved significantly to respond to the spread of the pandemic, he underlined the need to produce more health human resources and extend and upgrade the health system.

As suggested by the experts, tougher restrictions like lockdown should be reintroduced only in the high-risk zones. This will be helpful for us to bring the virus transmission under control and save the economy. The government may have to postpone its plan to resume long-route transportation and the education sector in view of the possible spread of the virus disease. It is an appropriate time for the government to assess its steps and come up with more result-oriented measures to save the lives of people and the economy.