17 new COVID-19 cases confirmed, tally climbs to 99; Lockdown till May 18

Kathmandu / May 6: 17 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Nepal today, taking the tally to 99.

All the new infections were reported in Parsa district.

Of them, 10 are men and 7 are women. A two-month old baby is said to be one of the infected.

Dr. Bikash Devkota, spokesperson of Ministry of Health and Population, informed that all the infected were from Birgunj, a town in the southern part of Nepal bordering with India.

Lockdown extended for 11 days, till May 18

The government has decided to extend the ongoing nationwide lockdown for 11 more days, till May 18.

Considering the threat of spread of COVID-19, the meeting of the Council of Ministers held today at the PM’s residence, Baluwatar, decided to extend the lockdown until May 18, said Surya Thapa, press advisor to the PM.

The lockdown was supposed to end on May 7.

The meeting of High Level Coordination Committee (HLCC) to combat COVID-19, held on May 6 in presence of PM KP Sharma Oli had concluded that lockdown was being effective to check the spread of the novel coronavirus in Nepal and there was need to extend the lockdown.