Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), Bidya Sundar Shakya, who was isolating at Soaltee Crowne Plaza after contracting Covid-19 has recovered and returned home. He will take a few days rest before resuming his duty, as per reports.
The mayor had received significant criticism after it was found he, and his family were isolating at a 5 star hotel, while the city battled rising infections and prohibitory orders mismanagement.
Kathmandu’s Chief District Officer Janak Raj Dahal said he was aware that the order was not been implemented in its entirety, but added that it was now up to the public to save themselves from coronavirus infection.
Mayor Shakya, who tested positive for COVID-19 on August 31, reportedly moved to the five-star Soaltee Crown Plaza and switched his phone off for over a week.
Issuing a statement a day after he tested positive, Shakya had said was isolating himself at home and vowed to remain in touch with his city officials fighting COVID-19.
According to sources at the hotel, Shakya is staying in a room costing Rs 20,000 per day, but is paying more than Rs 25,000 daily as he has also availed medical facilities in his room.
According to sources, the three rooms and medical facilities taken by Mayor Shakya’s family cost an average of Rs 75,000 a day. In the last 12 days of his stay, Shakya’s hotel expenses alone have reached Rs 900,000.
Whether the hotel expenses will be borne personally by the Mayor or will be paid through state coffers is yet unclear.
Initially reluctant to establish quarantine or isolation facilities in Kathmandu until the first week of August, Shakya announced, only after the virus spread rapidly and public pressure mounted, on August 10 that integrated isolation centers to accommodate 5,000 people will soon be built in the city.
A month after his announcement, his commitment has yet to be materialized.
