Kathmandu, March 2

All 175 Nepali nationals, who were repatriated from China in the wake of coronavirus outbreak and quarantined at Kharipati, Bhaktapur, for more than two weeks, were allowed to return home today as their second round of throat and nasal swabs tested negative.

The government authorities had kept the evacuees at Nepal Electricity Authority Training Centre, Kharipati, to monitor their health condition.

Spokesperson for Ministry of Health and Population Dr Bikas Devkota said the government decided to allow the evacuees to return home after all the results of their medical test came negative.

Doctors had taken throat and nasal swabs for the second time to ascertain that they were free from coronavirus infection.

The evacuees underwent the first coronavirus tests on 16 February — the day they were brought from China. But their test results were found to be negative two days later.

The government had repatriated Nepali nationals from China after they filed a petition at the Embassy of Nepal in China seeking their evacuation from the virus-ravaged country.