Baglung’s woman test positive as Nepal’s COVID-19 cases climbs to five

KATHMANDU, March 28: A 19-year old woman from Baglung, who returned to Nepal from Belgium, has tested positive for the virus on Saturday as the number of COVID-19 patients climbed to five in Nepal.

According to Health and Population Ministry Spokesperson Bikash Devkota, she had traveled to Nepal on Qatar Airways aircraft QR 652 via Qatar transit on March 17.

This is the second confirmed case outside the valley and the fifth imported case of Nepal. Nepal has not reported any domestic cases yet.

According to Devkota, the National Public Health Laboratory has conducted 875 tests while 32 samples are currently being tested.

There are four patients in isolation and six are in quarantine at the Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital at present. Of the four isolated, two are coronavirus patients.

A 19-year-old returnee from France and a 32-year-old man who had returned from the United Arab Emirates, both of whom tested positive for the virus, are receiving treatment at the hospital.

A 34-year-old man is also undergoing treatment for coronavirus at the Seti Provincial Hospital in Dhangadhi. He was tested positive yesterday.

According to Devkota, he had returned from Dubai via Delhi transit on March 20.

He was admitted to the hospital on March 24.

The first patient was a Nepali student from Wuhan. He was tested positive on January 24 and has already recovered.