With the growing number of Nepalis returning from abroad due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the government has planned to utilise hotels and resorts as quarantine facilities. In a meeting held at the Ministry of Urban Development on May 21, Ram Bir Manandhar, state minister for urban development informed that the government has started consultation to identify well-managed hospitality centres across the country to turn them into isolation facilities. According to him, 518 beds in different quarantine facilities are on standby mode in the Kathmandu valley currently. Similarly, 65,000 beds for isolation of Covid-19 patients are on standby throughout the country, while there are 25,000 people under isolation.

State minister Manandhar, who has been monitoring and facilitating the country-wide quarantine expect necessary support from hospitality entrepreneurs at a time when Nepal is facing a big crisis. According to him, the government will pay certain amount of money to hotels and resorts that are presently without guests to ustilise them as facilities for saving lives of citizens. Manandhar said that the government has prioritized bringing back home the Nepali migrant workers who are stranded in different gulf countries. He urged all local bodies to fully engage in management of quarantine facilities and that the federal government will bear all expenses in this regard. The meeting held at the ministry was participated by high officials of home, defense, civil administration, health and urban development ministries. (RSS)