Satish Aditya
Raxaul (East Champaran) : Nepal Government, in an important development, has announced that lockdown period is being treated as public holiday and the workers of industries and government employees will be paid their salary or allowance for this period. A notification issued through the government Gazette by Nepal government on April 29, 2020, states that the lockdown period starting from March 24, 2020, and the extended period will be considered Public Holiday as per clause 2 of the Communicable Disease Act 2020.
The chief of the offices concerned are required to decide the period for which all government offices, bodies, and industries gave a holiday in accordance with the order issued on March 22 and various dates after that, in the case of employees and workers with the salary and allowance they are entitled to for Public Holiday.
Dr Samir Adhikari ,Co-spokesperson of ministry of health and population, Nepal, said that with 3 more people testing positive for Covid-19 on April 29, 2020, the number of people has reached 53 in Nepal. Altogather 16 Coronavirus confirmed patient have returned home after full recovery bringing down the number of active cases to 37. According to report, the Nepal government is thinking to allow entry to 3,000 migrant labourers who are stranded or quarantined at Indian side border entry points.
The central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Nepal, has released a data in which it is stated that Nepal`s economic growth is expected to drop to 2.27 % in the current fiscal against the government target of 8.5% . The CBS projected a sharp decline in economic growth due to the impact of coronavirus on Nepal economy.