KATHMANDU: Nepalis returning home from employment in Gulf and Malaysia have to stay in hotel quarantine for five days.

Issuing a notice to the airlines the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has informed that even if the PCR report is negative within 72 hours prior to flying here, the incoming passengers have to get their PCR tested on arrival in Kathmandu.

Earlier, those with a negative report were allowed to go home and stay at home quarantine after leaving home. That provision has been amended to make five-day mandatory hotel quarantine.

Similarly, the authority has also stated that passengers entering Nepal should undergo two PCR tests while staying in the mandatory hotel quarantine for 10 days.

The passengers have to undergo PCR on the fourth and 10th day of their stay in the hotel quarantine, according to the CAAN notice.

Passengers visiting Nepal are required to submit a report of PCR negative within 72 hours before the flight, along with details including photo and barcode and swab collection time.

However, the Authority has informed that the provision does not apply to children under the age of five.