Covid-19: First locally transmitted case confirmed in Nepal

KATHMANDU: First case of local transmission of the coronavirus infection has been confirmed in the country.

The Ministry of Health and Population today shared the information of three new confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which two persons recently returned to Nepal from India while one contracted the contagion from a previously infected person.

A 34-year-old female from Kailali -- who is known be a relative of one of the earlier infected persons -- has contracted the disease, as per the Ministry.

A man, 34, who had recently returned from abroad tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the fourth Nepali to have contracted the disease. The infected person was kept in isolation and is undergoing treatment at Seti Provincial Hospital, Dhangadhi. According to the hospital, he is a resident of Kailali in Sudurpaschim Province.

He had returned from Dubai on March 20 and was admitted to the hospital on March 24, as he was suffering from fever and cough.

According to our Dhangadhi correspondent, Tekendra Deuba, the man flew from Dubai to Kathmandu via New Delhi and then from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj. He then took public transport from Nepalgunj to Dhangadhi.

Upon confirmation of his infection, ten of his family members' throat swab samples had be collected for tests, of which his sister-in-law's sample tested positive. All of the family members were in quarantine since the man's diagnosis.

With this, the total number of confirmed cases has reached nine, eight of them active, of which four of the infected are from the far-west alone.

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