KATHMANDU: Five people who had returned to Nepal from the United Kingdom have been confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus.
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests were performed on 12 quarantined returnees and out of the five people were diagnosed positive for the pandemic virus, said Director at Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EPDC), Dr. Basudev Pandey.
The Ministry of Health and Population has put 193 people who landed from the United Kingdom under observation.
Earlier issuing a notice, the Ministry had requested all entering Nepal from London or via London route from December 16 to 22 to stay at hotel quarantine for 10 days compulsory.
Joint-Spokesperson at the Ministry, Dr. Samir Kumar Adhikari, shared that a new variant of the virus is the developed form of Covid-19.
He said, “Virus changes. The virus of Covid-19 has been changed and developed as a new variant of a virus. It has also the same symptoms as Covid-19. The capacity of transferring infection of a new variant of the virus is higher than COVID-19. Further study regarding the new variant of the virus is still to be done. ”
A meeting of the Incident Command System under the Ministry of Health on Wednesday decided to study whether the new virus has entered Nepal.
The Government of Nepal has already banned entry to Nepal from the United Kingdom after the emergence of a new and more infectious strain of coronavirus there.
A meeting of the Direction Committee of the COVID-19 Crisis Management Center (CCMC) held on Tuesday afternoon had decided to bar all passengers coming from the UK.
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