Three admitted to Patan Hospital after rapid test showed positive for COVID-19

KATHMANDU, April 13: Three members of the same family from Pepsicola have been admitted to Patan Hospital after they tested positive for the coronavirus during a rapid diagnostic test.

It has been learned that the couple and their daughter had returned from the United Kingdom about a month ago and have been living in Block A of Sun City apartment.

According to the hospital director Dr. Bishnu Sharma, their throat swab samples have been sent to National Public Health Laboratory for confirmation.

“They have been kept in isolation in the hospital,” he added.

Health experts have said that the results generated by the rapid test kits cannot be assumed 100 percent positive unless they are verified positive through the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests—which work by detecting specific genetic material within the virus.

Earlier on Sunday, a woman from Baglung who had tested positive during the rapid test had tested negative in the PRC tests.

According to sources, the London returnees had arrived in Kathmandu to participate in the election of Apartment Welfare Society which was held on March 21, two days after the government restricted the gatherings of more than 25 people.

Finance and Communication Minister Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada’s son Tilak Khatiwada was elected as the secretary of the Society during the election, said Society’s former Chair Prabin Jha.

It has been claimed that the election was conducted in haste to elected Tilak to the post.

According to Jha, Minister Khatiwada had also reached the apartment to congratulate the newly elected committee.

Meanwhile, the police have sealed the apartment area and deployed police personnel blocking the movement of people to contain the possible spread of the virus.