Coronavirus: Nepal extends ban on flights operations till May 15

Nepal extended ban on operation of domestic and international flights till May 15 in a bid to stem the spread of coronavirus, the Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's office announced on Saturday.

The decision was taken during the High-Level Coordination Committee for the Prevention and Control of COVID-19 held at Singhadurbar as coronavirus cases in the Himalayan nation reaches 48.

The meeting led by committee chair Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Ishwar Pokharel took place at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, The Himalayan Times reported

"We have decided to further extend the flight ban till mid of May (15th May) as a precautionary measure to control the Coronavirus from further spreading. This only will be applicable to commercial flights not to those evacuation flights which have been carried on during these days (lockdown)," Narayan Bidari, Secretary at Prime Minister's Office told over the phone.

The high-level committee which is assigned to make assessments and recommendations about measures to further strengthen the preventive measures to control coronavirus spread also discussed the lockdown.

"We also had discussed on the lockdown and its efficacy. Well, we haven't decided anything about whether to extend the lockdown or not. Next cabinet meeting will decide on more about it," Bidari added.

Nepal has been kept under nation-wide lockdown since March 24 when it reported the second COVID-19 case which now has swelled to 49 with 11 recoveries and no fatalities.

Date of lockdown which has been pushed back three-time is set to end from mid-night of 27 April.

( With inputs from ANI )