Butwal, May 26
Kapilvastu’s Chief District Officer, Dirgha Narayan Paudel, says many people who have been quarantined after they arrived in the district from India have begun to run away after health authorities delayed their coronavirus test reports.
Paudel’s statement comes one day after 42 people quarantined at a local school in Malparwa, Kapilvastu municipality-4 of the district, ran away. In the past few days, 45 others had run away from quarantine in the district.
“It has been over 14 days since they were quarantined. It has been five to eight days since their swab samples were collected,” Paudel says, “Maybe the Province 5 lab is under pressure, causing a delay, but the quarantined people cannot understand this.”
He highlights that half of the people quarantined across the country are kept in Province 5, demanding the government immediately expand the range of coronavirus tests there. “Many more people are arriving from India. Hence, the provincial and federal governments should pay their attention immediately. Otherwise, the situation will be different.”
Paudel says around 6,500 people are quarantined in his district alone, and around 4,000 are awaiting the test.
Meanwhile, the 42 who ran away from a quarantine camp last night have been detained this morning, according to him.
