Police in Nepal have detained ten people, including seven foreign citizens, who were taking part in ongoing protests in Kathmandu against the government's poor handling of COVID-19 crisis, media reported on Saturday
NEW DELHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th June, 2020) Police in Nepal have detained ten people, including seven foreign citizens, who were taking part in ongoing protests in Kathmandu against the government's poor handling of COVID-19 crisis, media reported on Saturday.
The protests in Kathmandu are continuing for the third day in a row. About 1,000 protesters gathered on Saturday to demand better quarantine facilities, more tests and transparency in the purchase of medical supplies, blocking the main road of the city. Earlier in the week, the local police used tear gas and water cannons to push protesters back from the residence of the Nepalese prime minister.
"The foreigners were arrested for interfering in Nepal's internal affairs," police official Basant Lama said, as quoted by The Tribune.
According to The Tribune newspaper, the Nepalese authorities said it spent about $89 million to combat COVID-19, carried out around 310,000 tests and quarantined some 158,000 people. However, protesters insist this is insufficient for a country with 30 million population.
The COVID-19 lockdown was imposed in Nepal in March, with the current number of cases amounts to 5,062, and the death toll is 16.
