KATHMANDU: A doctor working in the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division of the Department of Health Services tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, becoming the first doctor to contract the disease in Nepal.

“He is a resident of Lalitpur and had visited the Tarai region for tracing contacts of COVID patients in the region. Our teams from EDCD go to hotspots for reporting, sharing information, contact tracing et cetera.

He was a member of one such team,” said Samir Kumar Adhikari, assistant spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Population. The infected doctor has been admitted to the isolation ward at Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on May 20, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.