Dateline Birgunj – II by Madhuri Mahato

Photo: Madhuri Mahato/ photo.circle

Nepal’s Finance Minister announced last week that the lockdown had been lifted. Immediately afterwards, doctors and public health experts were already seeing a surge in cases of COVID-19 infections. Three days in, Birgunj has declared an indefinite curfew to control the virus.

“I am really worried. Lockdown has been extremely difficult and they say that Birgunj is now the epicentre of the pandemic in Nepal. It is hard to find reliable information. There are rumours that doctors and health workers are getting infected and hospitals are being sealed. Anyone can get infected. Where do my family and I go when we get infected?”

– Swetaraj Ghimire, Birgunj

According to Nepal’s Ministry of Health Parsa district has 291 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and has reported four deaths. Province two also has the highest number of coronavirus cases compared to other provinces. Nepal reported 49th death due to coronavirus today.

Text and Photos: Madhuri Mahato @mmhisimmy

Edit: Mallika Aryal @mikaness

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