COVID-19: Nepal halves entry points for Indians, extends suspension of flights until August 31

A Cabinet meeting held at the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Baluwatar on Monday evening made the decisions on the recommendations made by the COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre (CCMC).

PTI

August 11, 2020 / 20:29 IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Right) with Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli

Nepal has decided to halve the number of designated entry points for Indian nationals to 10 from the existing 20 and extended the suspension of domestic and international flights until August 31 due to the spike in COVID-19 cases in the country.

A Cabinet meeting held at the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Baluwatar on Monday evening made the decisions on the recommendations made by the COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre (CCMC).

The government had partially lifted the lockdown 120 days after it was first enforced on March 24 to contain the spread of COVID-19. The government had then announced its plans to resume long-distance public transportation services, domestic and international flights from August 17.

The Cabinet meeting also decided to reduce the designated entry points for people entering Nepal from India to 10 from existing 20 in view of the spread of COVID-19 due to unchecked cross-border movement.

Security has been stepped up in the border area to check unauthorised movement of people, officials said. Nepal on Tuesday recorded 638 new COVID-19 cases, taking the national tally to 23,948.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

Show

COVID-19: Nepal halves entry points for Indians, extends suspension of flights until August 31

A Cabinet meeting held at the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Baluwatar on Monday evening made the decisions on the recommendations made by the COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre (CCMC).

Related stories

Subscribe to Tech Newsletters

COVID-19: Nepal halves entry points for Indians, extends suspension of flights until August 31

A Cabinet meeting held at the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Baluwatar on Monday evening made the decisions on the recommendations made by the COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre (CCMC).

Related stories

Subscribe to Tech Newsletters

Trending news