Kathmandu: Keen interest in Nepal after the new variant O-Micron of COVD-19 was seen in more than 24 countries of the world including neighboring India. Rumors of a 'lockdown' have been circulating on social media about O'Mikron. According to the National Public Health Laboratory, no case of O-micron has been found in Nepal so far. However, the Ministry of Health and Population is urging people not to travel abroad and to adhere to public health standards, except for the urgent ones, in view of the potential for entry into O'Meon.

The government has barred the new variant of COVD-19 from entering Nepal from nine countries where the infection has spread. The cabinet meeting has decided not to allow entry to Nepal from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Iswatini, Mozambique, Malawi and Hong Kong. The government has also decided not to issue unarrival visas to passengers coming to Nepal from those countries which are at risk of infection.

According to the same decision, Director General of the Immigration Department Narayan Prasad Bhattarai said that entry to Nepal by air and land was banned from those countries. To reduce the risk of serious infections, the government will vaccinate 200,000 people daily against COVD-19. A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Thursday has directed the Ministry of Health and Population to make it mandatory for at least two lakh people to be vaccinated daily.

In order to test whether there is a new variant in people who have been confirmed to have COD-19 in Nepal now, the government is collecting samples from health desks at border points across the country and conducting gene sequencing. The director of the National Public Health Laboratory, Dr. According to Runa Jha, the number of gene sequencing tests has also been increased to test whether there are new variants in the samples that came in co-positive. In the last two waves in Nepal, the Delta variant was spread. After Delta, no new variant was identified. Runa Jha said that despite various speculations about the Micron variant, the government has not officially discussed the ban.