May 15: The Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to tighten the lockdown measures in the three districts of Kathmandu Valley after new cases of coronavirus were reported in the capital.

A meeting of the chief district officers of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur as well as local representatives and security chiefs on Thursday (May 14) decided to adopt strict measures from Friday.

Spokesperson at the ministry Kedahnath Sharma informed New Business Age that the districts outside the valley can issue vehicle passes only after consulting the ministry.

Recently, three persons who entered the valley from outside tested positive for coronavirus. Those cases were confirmed on  Wednesday followed by a new case of infection in a six-year-old girl in the capital a day later. Fearing that the infection could go out of control if adequate measures are not taken, the authorities decided to further tighten the rules.

After noticing coronavirus infection among people who recently entered the valley from outside districts, the home ministry decided to invalidate all the vehicle passes issued earlier. All such passes have been scrapped, effective from May 14. The meeting also decided to mandatorily perform Rapid Diagnostic Test on any person entering the valley even for emergency purpose.

Likewise, the authorities decided to consider only the passes issued by the concerned authorities as valid for government employees and staffers of banks and financial institutions within the valley.