Nepal on Tuesday extended the suspension of international flights till April 30 to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and also decided to renew visas of tourists stranded amidst the lockdown in the country free of cost.

A high-level government coordination committee took the decisions as part of the measures to combat the fast-spreading disease that has infected nine people in the country.

However, the government is undecided over whether to resume the domestic flights.

The Nepal government on Monday also extended the ongoing nationwide lockdown till April 15.

Tourists, whose visas expired after the suspension of international flights since March 22, will not have to pay any fee for extension of their visa.

The global coronavirus death toll has crossed the 82,000 mark, with United States recording almost 2,000 deaths in the last 24 hours according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center data.

The government imposed a ban on commercial domestic and international flights from March 22 to 31, which was later extended till April 15 amid fears of growing infections. It has now been further extended till April 30.

According to the TIA immigration office, more than 2,500 foreigners have left for their home countries in chartered flights since the imposition of lockdown in the country.

According to Dhananjaya Regmi, CEO of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), some 1,360 tourists are stranded in places like Lukla and Pokhara.

Nepal, which shares an 1,800-km open border with India, has total 37 motorable land entry points with it, while with China it has four such entry points.

Earlier, the government has also decided to set up quarantine facilities at provincial and local levels as a precautionary measure to provide quick treatment to people infected with the deadly virus.

Khatiwada said the government will contribute Rs 500 million to the Corona virus fund it has created to purchase logistics to be used for the treatment of COVID-19 patients in case of an outbreak.

Meanwhile, prominent industrialist and Norvic International Hospital chairman Basanta Kumar Chaudhary has announced to donate NPR 100 million to fund.

(With inputs from agency)