Kathmandu, April 6

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Population Dr Bikas Devkota said that people who had been staying in quarantine would have to stay in quarantine for more than 14 days as in some case infected people showed symptoms of the coronavirus even after 14 days. He urged people to follow the rules of lockdown and stay in quarantine as that was the only option to effectively check the spread of COVID-19.

Addressing the daily press briefing here today Dr Devkota said testing for coronavirus had started in three more cities outside Kathmandu today — Bharatpur, Dhulikhel and Bhairahawa. With the new centres, there are now 10 testing centres including the one in Kathmandu valley.

According to Devkota, as of today, 1,697 COVID-19 tests have been conducted. A total of 9,168 people have been staying in quarantine across the country.

Similarly, 12 people are undergoing treatment in isolation wards of hospitals in Kathmandu and 95 people outside Kathmandu.

In the last 24 hours, five people were listed in the red zone or in the list of suspected COVID-19 patients.

NORVIC International Hospital today donated 1,000 pieces of PPE, 2,000 N-95 masks and 48,000 surgical masks to the Ministry of Health and Population today.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on April 06, 2020 of the Himalayan Times.