KATHMANDU, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Local authorities in Nepal's Kathmandu Valley on Friday decided to lift all COVID-19-related restrictions starting from Saturday as new infections have fallen sharply in recent days.
"All the restrictive orders issued in the past have been removed to enable normal political, economic, social, educational and commercial activities due to the decreasing rate of coronavirus infections," read notices issued by the Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts in the valley.
A total of 126 new cases, 111 confirmed through PCR tests and 15 through antigen tests, were reported across the country in the past 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Health and Population.
The South Asian country logged a record 12,338 cases on Jan. 20 at the height of the third wave of infections, mainly caused by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
"As the number of COVID-19 cases has declined sharply in recent days and the number of vaccinated people increased, we decided to lift all the restrictions imposed on political, economic and social activities on condition that people follow the health protocols," Ghanashyam Upadhyay, chief district officer of Lalitpur, told Xinhua.
As of Friday, 74.1 percent of Nepal's total population have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccines, while 60.6 percent have been fully vaccinated, according to the Health Ministry.
Schools and colleges were allowed to reopen on Feb. 13 in the Kathmandu Valley, but mass political and cultural events are still banned, among others.
The lift of all restrictions paves the way for political parties to mobilize support in the local election slated for May 13. ■