After Health Ministry bowed out, municipal officials bear the brunt of the Covid-19 crisis

Ward chiefs say they are flooded with phone calls from people asking for hospital beds. Kathmandu lacks isolation or quarantine facilities, infected persons can't access bottled oxygen.

On Friday, the Health Ministry publicly said Covid-19 cases were rising alarmingly and with hospitals running out of beds, the health system was losing control of the situation . That spread terror among the people, and many criticised the government’s announcement as ‘irresponsible.’