A meeting of provincial ministers and secretaries on Thursday decided to make a ‘Coronavirus Action Plan’ to combat the spread of the coronavirus in the rural areas of Karnali province.

The meeting, chaired by Karnali Chief Minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi, decided to focus on villages by coordinating with the local units to raise awareness about the disease and to control its spread.

Province’s Minister for Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives Bimala KC, who is also the spokesperson for the Karnali government, said the meeting decided to implement the action plan in the villages by evaluating the works done so far. “Many Nepali migrant workers, who were in the countries affected by Covid-19, have returned to the villages. That’s why it’s important that we put all our efforts on reaching out to the villages.”

According to the plan, the government will take initiatives to identify and conduct health check-ups on the migrant workers who have returned to the villages recently, and encourage them to stay in self-quarantine.

Although the government set-up a 400-bed quarantine facility at Khulamanch in Birendranagar, the facility has yet to come into operation. A total of 102 people, who reached Karnali province from various Indian cities on Tuesday and Wednesday, are currently being kept at hotels and a hostel in Birendranagar.

“We are making the necessary arrangements to set up the quarantine facility. We will start its operations soon,” said KC.

Officials at the meeting said they have started the process to transport essential medical equipment and medicines for the provincial hospital and other district-based health facilities from outside the province.