Nepal Parliament members to get COVID-19 tests

The Business Advisory Committee of Nepal’s Parliament has decided to have all MPs tested for the coronavirus before it convenes for its budget session on 8 May at 4PM.

The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests will be conducted on Thursday prior to the House sessions, where two seats will be left vacant between MPs to maintain physical distancing.

“Earlier we were going to leave only one seat vacant, but we decided on increasing the distance to reduce the risk of spreading the virus. We want to minimise the risk since MPs will be coming from all over the country,” says Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota.

An expert committee had earlier advised everyone to get health checkups, and for people who came back from high risk areas to get PCR tested. However Parliament is not taking any risks, and is testing all members.

“We came from different parts of the country, and there is a high risk of the cirus spreading the chambers so we decided to get everyone PCR tested, with people from hotspots getting tested first,” said one member who was present at the preparatory meeting.

PCR testing involves getting mucus or saliva swabs from the throat and nose tested for genetic material of the coronavirus antibody in people who could be infected.

The main hall of Parliament, its committee rooms, canteen and lobby area will be disinfected for the meeting following the standard guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO), and all MPs will maintain physical distancing according to medical guidelines, according to spokesperson Shrigar Neupane.

Nepal’s Federal Parliament has 344 members, including both the House of Representatives and the National Assembly. “The preparations for the sessions are complete,” says Dasharath Dhamala of the Parliament secretariat, “we are strictly following procedures laid down by WHO.”

On Wednesday the government decided to extend the lockdown till 18 May, in response to 15 new cases being detected in Nepalganj and 17 more in Parsa bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Nepal to 99.

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Nepal lockdown till 18 May, no easing, Nepali Times