Pokhara Metropolitan City closed down all schools in the city for three days to avoid the further spread of conjunctivitis in schools. 

The city issued a notice on Tuesday directing all community, institutional, and Montessori schools to close on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. 

Senior Education Officer Badrinath Subedi said the decision was taken after a meeting with all stakeholders. 

According to Iliya Shrestha, medical director of Himalaya Eye Hospital, out of the 1,573 patients who visited the hospital for the treatment of conjunctivitis last week, 918 were children. 

“On Sunday alone, we received 629 patients. A majority of them were children.” 

Conjunctivitis, also called pink eye disease, has been fast spreading in districts across the country. The past few weeks have seen a rise in conjunctivitis cases in all seven provinces. It is a communicable disease that causes inflammation of the conjunctiva, which is the thin layer of tissue on the inside of the eyelids. 

The disease can be caused by a viral or bacterial infection. Viral infections typically have a watery discharge, while bacterial infections have a yellowish discharge.

According to health experts, conjunctivitis cases are usually reported between the months of March and August in Nepal in limited numbers, but this year the disease started spreading fast in local communities in the last two weeks.