Working procedure of ‘smart lockdown’ implemented across the country from today

KATHMANDU: The working procedure of ‘smart lockdown’ has been implemented across the country from Tuesday on the basis of a circular issued by the Covid Crisis Management Center (CCMC).

The District Administration Offices of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur can impose smart lockdown on the basis of this working procedure.

CCMC Spokesperson Nurhari Khatiwada said that the working procedure will be implemented in all the 77 districts from August 17. The CCMC had issued the circular to all the 77 districts on Tuesday. The CCMC also urged the Home Ministry to direct all the districts to follow the procedure.

The Chief District Officer (CDO) of Kathmandu, Kali Prasad Parajuli, said that preparations are being made for the implementation of smart lockdown as per the circular issued by the CCMC.

According to the procedure, the country will be divided into 4 zones (Red, Amber, Yellow and green) based on the rate of infection, deaths, condition of health infrastructure and patient pressure.

The CCMC is preparing to completely ban the districts, metropolis, and municipalities which are included in the red zone and relax the ban on others on the basis of guidelines.

“We used to enforce the lockdown on the basis of conjecture in the past, but now we are doing smart lockdown in a factual and scientific way,” Khatiwada said.

According to the guidelines of the lockdown, the responsibility has been given to District Department Management Committee (DCMC) and municipalities to impose the lockdown on the basis of the infection rate.

“The District Administration Office and the municipality will work as per the guidelines of the CCMC from today,” said Khatiwada.