Quarantined 175 Nepalis tested negative of coronavirus

KATHMANDU, March 2: All 175 Nepalis who have been kept in quarantine in Kharipati of Bhaktapur have tested negative of novel coronavirus, according to Health Ministry.

The 135 male and 40 female were rescued from the epicenter of the outbreak Hubei province of China and airlifted from Wuhan to Kathmandu on Feb 16.

After all them tested negative in the first round test, their swab samples were collected and sent to National Public Health Laboratory in Teku for the second round test after them completed a two-week compulsory quarantine on Sunday.

“All of them tested negative,” said Spokesperson at the Health Ministry Bikash Devkota.

They can now reunite with their families. During the quarantine period, they were barred from visiting their family members, friends and relatives.

The new virus COVID-19 has infected more than 89,000 people globally and killed over 3,000 deaths, with China reporting 2,912 deaths and 80,026 cases, mostly in the central province of Hubei.