RAJBIRAJ: Two persons who had recently returned from India have tested positive for antibodies on the Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) for COVID-19 in Saptari district.

The duo, both male, from Tilathi Koiladi Rural Municipality and Khadak Municipality in the district, have tested positive on RDT procedure, informed Medical Superintendent Dr Chumanlal Das at Gajendra Narayan Singh Hospital. They had returned to the district two weeks ago through various Nepal-India border points after attending a religious conference in New Delhi with six others.

Swab samples of seven among the eight persons have been collected and sent to BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, for testing through Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method on Tuesday night, added Medical Superintendent Das.

Among the group members, three are from Khadak Municipality, one each from Agnisair Krishna Sawaran, Bishnupur, Tilathi Koiladi Rural Municipalities, and one from Surunga Municipality. The person from Surunga Municipality will be brought to Rajbiraj for swab collection to carry out PCR testing, Das added.

Although the duo have tested positive for antibodies in RDT test, they being COVID-19 positive will only be confirmed after the PCR test, Das said.