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At the moment the country is under the partial influence of local as well as Westerly winds. According to the Meteorological Forecasting Division, the weather will be partly cloudy in Lumbini Province and Sudur Pashchim Province along with the hilly regions and partly cloudy to mainly fair in the rest of the country today. Brief rain or thundershowers are likely to occur at one or two places of hilly regions of Koshi Province, Bagmati Province and Gandaki Province, the Division says in its bulletin. Likewise, tonight it will be partly cloudy in the hilly areas and mainly fair in rest of the country.

Madhyapur Thimi Municipality has announced four days of public holiday starting from today on the occasion of New Year. The municipality decided to give four days of public holiday in order to celebrate Biska or Bisket Jatra celebrated here on the occasion of New Year in a grand manner. The locals celebrate the Bisket Jatra from today. Deputy-Mayor Bijay Krishna Shrestha said the municipality decided to holiday from April 13-16. The historical Jatra is celebrated by piercing a tongue.  Shrestha shared, "Locals had not celebrated the festival in a grand manner after local level did not grant holiday. So, we decided to give four days of public holiday from this year." Bisket Jatra is one of the greatest festivals celebrated by the Newar Community, especially of Bhaktapur district. It is celebrated for nine days.  

The Ministry of Health and Population has instructed various health facilities to remain on standby in view of increasing cases of COVID-19 in the country. The direction came as the daily graph of fresh COVID-19 cases is going up lately. Cases of mutated Omicron sub-variant XBB1.16.1 of COVID -19 found in neighboring India have been recorded lately in Nepal as well. According to Director of Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, Dr Chuman Lal Das, the latest variant of COVID-19 is more infectious and hospitals are directed to be in ready position to respond to the possible situation ahead. Bir Hospital, Shukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, TU Teaching Hospital, Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Civil Service Hospital, Armed Police Force Hospital and Nepal Police Hospital are among those health facilities directed to be prepared for handling the untoward situation. On Wednesday, a person succumbed to COVID-19, the first death from the virus in over three months. Bir Hospital director Dr Santosh Poudel said they have been directed to be prepared for the response to COVID-19 in view of its soaring cases lately. Shukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital chief consultant physician Dr Bimal Chalise said they are alert to possible risk of infections and are prepared accordingly. "There is no need to panic, but we must be alert to possible risk," he said, adding that the hospital reported a ventilator case of COVID-19 and two ICU cases at the moment. On Wednesday, 106 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the country.  At present, 24 are in isolation, 13 in ICU care and five on ventilator support for COVID-19.  The Division has said it has tightened COVID-19 checks along the Nepal-India border since Wednesday.

Nepal reported 121 new Covid-19 cases and one death on Wednesday. According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 620 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 58 returned positive. Likewise, 1, 757 people underwent antigen tests, of which 63 were tested positive. The Ministry said that 81 infected people recovered from the disease. As of today, there are 445 active cases in the country.