Nepal Government has decided to extend the term of ongoing nationwide COVID-19 lockdown till May 18. Experts argue that the decision to announce blanket lockdown has no sense.

They argue that the lockdown need to relax in the areas where there is no incidence of COVID-19 infection. Public Health expert Dr. Sameer M Dixit in his tweet questions the extending blanket lock down. He said that the current blanket lockdown without expanding testing does not solve the problems.

Even expert group suggested to ease the lockdown categorizing the country into three zones, the blanket extension of lockdown took with the insistence of prime minister Oli.

PM said it was not the right time to go for relaxation of lockdown on the basis of categorization, as COViD- 19 cases continued to rise in India and in certain districts of Nepal bordering India.

Oli told the meeting that some countries that lifted lockdown early regretted their decisions later and Nepal should avoid such a situation.

The cabinet meeting held today at Baluwatar took the decision to continue the lockdown. The cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister K.P.Sharma Oli took the decision reviewing all the recommendations presented by High-Level Coordination Committee for the Prevention and Control of COVID-19.

Nepal announces the firs lockdown on March 24 and extended the twice in the past.