KATHMANDU: More than 35 Nepal Army personnel, who were supposed to fly for a peacekeeping mission in Libya, have tested positive to coronavirus infection.

As a result, their flight scheduled for today has been cancelled.

A total of 116 army personnel were scheduled to fly today for the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) which has now been postponed after some of the members of the Mission were also confirmed positive to the virus, said Nepal Army spokesperson Santosh Ballav Poudel.

The team had been in quarantine for four months at the Birendra Peace Keeping Training Centre in Panchkhal of Kavre, after completing training for the mission.

However, the latest test carried out on all the personnel showed more than 35 carrying the virus. The results came out on Sunday.

A new date will be fixed after a re-test is carried out of all the members, including those who had come in contact with the infected, said NA Public Relations and Information Directorate.

Meanwhile, the number of infections in the Nepali Army personnel has increased significantly of late.

As of August 2, only 508 personnel had tested positive to Coronavirus, which has increased to 1,383 by August 13.

Of the COVID-19 infected army personnel, 294 have recovered while 1,089 are still undergoing treatment, said NA spokesperson Poudel.