CHITWAN: Two UK returnees, a mother and her son, have tested positive for COVID-19 in Rapti Municipality of Chitwan district.

The woman had tested positive for antibodies during the Rapid Diagnositic Test (RDT) on Wednesday. She had returned from United Kingdom via Hong Kong on March 18 with her two sons.

On detection of coronavirus antibodies, the family of three were kept in isolation at Bharatpur Hospital and their swab samples sent to National Avian Disease Investigation Laboratory for further testing through PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) method, where two samples tested positive.

The samples of the mother and son need further testing to confirm the transmission, informed Dr Shreeram Tiwari, Medical Superintendent at Bharatpur Hospital, adding that their swab samples have been sent to National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL), Kathmandu for further confirmation, today morning.

So far, Nepal has reported 16 confirmed COVID-19 cases of which 15 are active while one person has recovered from the disease.