Government extends lockdown by 12 days By Our Reporter The government has decided to extend the nationwide lockdown until April 27. A meeting of the Council of Ministers held at the official residence of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in Baluwatar on Tuesday decided to extend lockdown  as per the recommendation of the High Level COVID-19 prevention and control committee. Earlier, the Indian government had extended lockdown in India till May 3. The ongoing lockdown in Nepal was to expire at midnight on Wednesday. Likewise, the government has decided to halt the mobility of people across all borders with India and China until April 30. After the Cabinet meeting, Minister for Finance and Communication and Information Technology Dr Yuvaraj Khatiwada said that any person and agent found helping any person to enter the country from the border would face stern action. The Cabinet also decided to suspend international flights until April 30 to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus. The government decided to extend the lockdown hours after two new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Kathmandu, and cases were increasing outside the valley as well as India. According to the Health and Population Ministry,  two  members of the same family residing together at an apartment building in the Kathmandu Valley tested positive for coronavirus . With this,  COVID-19 cases in Nepal have reached 16. According to MoHP, the family members are residents of Sun City Apartment in Kageshwori Manahara Municipality in Kathmandu district. They had recently returned to Nepal from London, United Kingdom. On Tuesday’s daily briefing, Dr Devkota said that the two have been kept under isolation at Patan Hospital. However, the extension of lockdown could affect the poor and daily wage earners badly as they would remain jobless for over a month, and they will not be getting money to buy food unless they work.