The Nepali Congress has slammed the government for its poor handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Joint General Secretary of the party Prakash Sharan Mahat, who heads Nepali Congress COVID-19 Monitoring Committee, issued a press release today saying the government’s efforts to contain the pandemic had left much to be desired.

Taking the government to task, he added that it was not even making arrangements to isolate COVID-19 infected people, while it was expected to trace contacts of COVID-19 patients, conduct more tests and arrange more isolation beds.

He highlighted the plight of COVID-19 patients who had been told to self-isolate in rented rooms in Kathmandu valley, though their rooms lacked facilities for effective self isolation. “Such people are transmitting the deadly disease to healthy people.”

Nepali Congress statement adds that COVID patients in Kathmandu had asked the authorities concerned to provide them isolation beds, but they have been told to wait, exposing healthy people to the contagion.

“This means the government is indifferent to the risk of spike in the COVID-19 infection,” the Nepali Congress said. “We demand that the government immediately make arrangements for more isolation beds for all the infected people who need such beds.” It also urged the government to provide necessary care in hospitals to all the infected people with symptoms.”