Kathmandu. The first country to register the COVID-19 cases, China, has contained the disease, according to the Chinese government reports. The disease, on the other hand, is spreading like fire in Nepal which was left unscathed for several months in the early days of COVID-19’s spread around the world.

With a total of 86,823 cases till Sunday, COVID-19 cases in Nepal have surpassed that of China, ranking 45th in the world. China reported 85,450 COVID-19 cases  till October 4.  As per the record of Nepal Health Ministry, a total of 2,253 new cases were recorded on Sunday alone.

Though there has been a constant rise in the coronavirus infection cases, the busy streets and crowded marketplaces show how heedless and carefree the Nepalis are. Asia News International (ANI) reports that Nepal government has not been able to implement the health protocols strictly and the Nepalis are in a mood to celebrate the upcoming Dashain festival.

The 15-day long Dashain festival starts after mid of October. Stock clearance sales are witnessed everywhere in the market with the arrival of the festive season. People have started  to throng  markets that seem  negligent about even the most basic safety measures that should be adopted to prevent infection.

Elaborating on Nepalis’ carefree attitude ANI writes that Kathmandu has become the epicenter of COVID-19 in Nepal, recording 50 to70 percent of the total daily corona cases, but he people here are worried more about the possibility of lockdown than the infection itself.

Most Nepalis opine that the country has survived too long a period of lockdown and conclude that it is not the only solution. People should be aware about the safety measures and government should take stringent steps.

“Lockdown already has crippled our condition. We should think of alternatives like maintaining distance, avoiding crowds, always wear a mask and adopt other safety measures to protect own self which would really work and control the contagion. If the lockdown is imposed again then people would have to embrace difficult situations like that of before, the lockdown will further worsen the situation,” Rajesh, one of the shoppers who came to IndraChowk area which is one of the oldest markets in Kathmandu, told ANI.

17.62 percent of the 12,784 samples taken for PCR test was found positive on Sunday.. There are 10, 663 active cases in Kathmandu, 1010 in Bhaktapur and 1412 active cases in Lalitpur.