Nepalgunj sub-metropolitan city has decided to close all schools for a week from Sunday with the rise in coronavirus cases in the city.

A meeting of the crisis management committee on Thursday decided to close all schools and businesses for a week except those offering emergency and essential services, said Uma Thapa Magar, deputy mayor of the sub-metropolis.

“We have decided to shut down schools after an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases,” said Magar, “We had proposed shutting down schools from Friday but since everyone needed to be informed the decision will take effect from Sunday.”

The meeting also decided to strictly monitor people entering Nepal through the Nepal-India border and ramp up health checkups and antigen tests.

The metropolis was under pressure to take precautionary measures including closing public and private schools among others following a surge in Covid-19 cases.

According to Bheri Hospital, most of the recent Covid-19 cases have been detected in teachers, students and parents.

“Even though some schools are following health and safety protocols, many of them are not strictly implementing them,” said Tej Oli, the coronavirus focal person at the District Health Office in Banke. “That’s also why we are seeing a surge in infections in schools.”

Education Chief of the sub-metropolis Gorakh Bahadur Thapa informed that 14 teachers and students have tested positive for Covid-19 in various schools in the city.