Kathmandu, March 3

From among five persons suspected to have been infected with coronavirus, who were admitted to the isolation ward of Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, Teku, four have tested negative for the disease.

Three of the four persons had returned from South Korea. One patient is a Chinese national from Beijing. All four are men aged above 20. All of them were discharged from the hospital today.

“The report of one patient, who was admitted on Monday will be available tomorrow,” said Dr Anup Bastola, spokesperson for Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital.

Throat swab and blood samples of the suspected patients were sent to National Public Health Laboratory for examination.

A patient aged 54 was admitted to the hospital today on the suspicion of contracting coronavirus. “The patient who had returned from Qatar has been suffering from fever and respiratory illness for the past seven days. He was brought to the hospital following his health screening at the health desk of Tribhuvan International Airport. He is currently at the isolation ward. His blood and throat swab samples will be sent to the laboratory tomorrow,” said Bastola.

As the government has been taking several decisions to prevent spread of the disease in the country of late, Ministry of Health and Population today increased the number of staffers at the health desk at TIA. Earlier there were 12 staffers in the health desk.

The numbers has been increased to 19.

“At least five persons will be deployed at the health desk round the clock from now,” said Dr Bikash Devkota, spokesperson at health ministry.

Though the ministry has added manpower at the health desk its thermal scanner, which stopped functioning has yet to be maintained. Talking to mediapersons in the capital today Dr Devkota said, “We have been collecting masks from the market and are planning to distribute them among the public. A total of 25,000 masks have been collected.”

With the number of coronvirus cases rising globally Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Hospital has been admitting suspected patients. “The hospital has admitted 23 suspected patients till now. Of them only one tested positive,” said Dr Bastola.

Demands for personal protective equipments are also on the rise. “We have asked our management and logistics department to provide us with personal protective equipment.

We will get it within a week’s time,” Dr Bastola added.

Doctors have suggested people to maintain personal hygiene as preventive measure against the disease. “One must use mask, wash hands with soap and water and refrain from touching eyes, mouth and nose,” Dr Bastola suggested.