Rejuvenating wisely

The government must impose strict restrictions on public gatherings for festivals and rituals.

Nepal's festival season is inching towards its peak. So is Covid-19. And yet, the Janai Purnima festival on Monday invited large gatherings in temples across the country. Thankfully, some people were seen flaunting sanitisers and masks even as they got the sacred raksha bandhan tied on their wrists. But as the country's Covid-19 tally crosses the 21,000 mark with 58 deaths and the government mulls over imposing Lockdown 2.0, the fact that the influx of large numbers of people to mass gatherings gives rise to public health risks cannot be overemphasised.