Kathmandu, Aug 24
The Valley Municipal Forum has decided to
make preparations for contact tracing and testing of suspected, probable,
confirmed and close contact high risk cases of the coronavirus.
A two-day meeting of the forum has decided
to expedite activities to contain the contagion of COVID-19.
"We will expand contact tracing and
testing base in all the municipalities in the Kathmandu Valley to check the
spread of the coronavirus," said Bidhya Sundar Shakya, chairman of the
forum and Mayor of the Kathmandu Metropolis. "The current shutdown period
will be utilised for robust contact tracing in the hotspots."
The meeting was attended by KMC Mayor
Shakya, Vice-chair of the Forum and Mayor of Lalitpur Metropolis Chiri Babu
Maharjan, and Secretary of the Forum and Mayor of Madhyapur Thimi Municipality
Madan Sundar Shrestha.
Shakya said that community level
transmission of the disease in the federal Capital would create a havoc in
administration and many other works. Therefore, the forum had planned to move
ahead united to expedite contact tracing and virus testing in the valley. The
dense settlements in various parts of the cities in the valley create a fertile
ground for easy and rapid transmission of the virus.
"We will make a provision to treat
everyone testing positive for the virus. People who are not in the circle of
contact tracing but have exhibited the symptoms of COVID-19 would be tested and
treated," said Shakya.
Secretary Shrestha said that the forum had
planned for contact tracing of 15,000 to 20,000 people on a daily basis.
He said that the people were urged to stay
in their home. “If we don’t do something important to check the spread of the
virus, there may not be another occasion in the future for contact tracing and
testing.”
"If we see the practice in other
countries, the tracing and testing should be expedited during the shutdown or
lockdown period. We will follow the same scientific method," he said.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 25 August 2020.
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