Following an explosion of Covid-19 cases, Parsa District Administration has enforced a prohibitory order for an indefinite period in the district starting Monday.

A meeting of the District Security Committee on Saturday, chaired by Chief District Officer Bishnu Kumar Karki, decided to impose a districtwide prohibitory order.

An earlier prohibitory order imposed since July 25 was applicable to Birgunj Metropolitan City only.

“We have seen a sudden rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in the district. After the lockdown was lifted, increased public movement was seen in the district, including the inflow of people from across the border,” Lalit Kumar Basnet, assistant chief district officer, told the Post from Birgunj over the phone. “The District Administration Office has enforced restrictive measures so that we can control further spread of the virus and focus more on mass testing.”

Mayor of Birgunj Metropolitan City Vijay Sarawagi and Pradeep Yadav, a lawmaker from Parsa-1, also have tested positive

With the restriction order in place, individuals will not be allowed to come out of their houses, except for medical emergencies or other unavoidable essential works. All other services except the essential ones have been suspended in the district.

The district office, in its statement, has said that public movement through border points too has been banned.

“After industries were re-opened, cases had gone up even among workers who could further bring infection to the city areas,” said Basnet. “Nearly 400 trucks enter the district with essential items from India. Workers loading and unloading these items can easily be exposed to the virus infection.”

According to Basnet, the district has so far reported a total of 14 deaths due to Covid-19. All four deaths reported due to Covid-19 on Friday were from Parsa district with total cases reaching 482 till Saturday.

“However, all those who have died due to Covid-19 are not residents of Parsa,” said Basnet. “Parsa hosts people from several other districts including neighbouring Bara district and those tested positive were also admitted in hospitals here.”

Parsa recorded 66 new Covid-19 positive cases on Saturday as the nationwide tally crossed 20,000.

With recent spikes of Covid-19 cases in Tarai districts and major towns, mainly in Province 2, similar prohibitory orders have been enforced in several places.

In the west, Banke district has imposed similar restrictions whereas eastern cities like Biratnagar which have been on lockdown for the last two weeks, Mahottari District Administration Office has placed a five-day prohibitory restriction for district headquarters and parts of the district.