Kathmandu, March 1

Immigration authorities at Bahrain International Airport today deported 38 Nepalis as a precautionary measure against the spread of COVID-19, Eshor Raj Poudel, director general of the Department of Immigration, told THT today. He added that immigration authorities in Singapore, another country that has reported cases of coronavirus, also deported a few Nepali migrant workers today.

Bahrain and Singapore are among the countries that have reported cases of the COVID-19, a disease spread by coronavirus.

Rising cases of coronavirus among major destinations of Nepali migrants including Bahrain, Qatar, South Korea and Singapore pose risk of Nepalis being infected with the disease which has already killed almost 3,000 people across the world.

Poudel said discussion was under way to halt the outflow of Nepali migrant workers temporarily. “We are discussing ways to prevent people from being infected by the deadly disease. We are considering halting migrant workers from travelling abroad, especially to those countries where cases of COVID-19 have been reported,” he added.

The government is also preparing to issue a travel advisory urging Nepalis not to travel to nations that have reported cases of coronavirus. Officials at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation said, if necessary, the government would halt flights to and from nations where cases of COVID-19 had been reported.

The World Health Organisation has placed Nepal among the countries that face high risk of coronavirus infection. As Nepal shares border with China — the source country of the novel coronavirus — and has not laid the groundwork for preventing and containing the coronavirus outbreak, Nepal is at high risk.