COVID-19 scare: Nepal closes 22 border points with India

Nepal decided to shut down 22 out of the total 35 border points with India in view of the COVID-19 crisis.

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New Delhi: The Nepal government announced the closure of 22 border points with India in view of the prevailing COVID-19 situation.

In a meeting on Friday (April 30), the COVID Crisis Management Coordination Committee (CCMC) recommended to the Council of Ministers to shut down 22 out of the total 35 border points between Nepal and India, PTI quoted officials as saying. While the rest 13 border points between the two neighbours will remain operational.

India has become the second worst-hit COVID-19 nation, as the United States still tops the caseload tally.

In the past 24 hours, India recorded the highest-ever daily infection cases in the world with over four new lakh infections. With 3,523 fresh fatalities, the death tally stood at 2,11,853, according to the Union Health Ministry data on Saturday (May 1). There is 32.68 lakh (32,68,710) active cases in the country now. 

Meanwhile, Nepal reported 5,706 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, its highest single-day rise, pushing the coronavirus tally to 328,893, the Ministry of Health and Population informed. 

"While conducting PCR tests on 14,403 people in the past 24 hours, 5,706 people were found infected with SARS-CoV-2," the ministry said.

The active count in the country stands at 43,213, while the recovery rate reached 85.9 per cent.

(With inputs from PTI)