NC demands expansion of COVID-19 testing coverage

4 May Kathmandu : The main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) has demanded the government expand the coverage of coronavirus testing. Party parliamentary chief whip Balkrishna Khand today had a telephone conversations with Minister for Health and Population Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal and drew his attention to expand the testing coverage on a vast scale in the wake of detection of 15 cases in a single day in Nepalgunj, Banke.

During the telephone talks, the NC chief whip called for the need to intensify precautionary measures, ensure management of essential medical equipment and mobilise additional medical workforce in the risk zones. He urged the government to immediately carry out tracing and testing of the people who came to contact with the infected and focus more on the prevention of further infection risk.

Khand urged the government to launch a search and identify those who had come in contact with an infected person at Kotahimai rural municipality-1, Marchawar in Rupandehi district. The infected man had come home from India. He also asked the government to intensify test for the infection and manage medical appliances required for the test, stating that these appliances are in short.  In response, Minister Dhakal said required medical appliances would be supplied to the areas.