SURKHET: Karnali Province on Wednesday recorded its first case of coronavirus when two 36-year-old men tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease in West Rukum.

After the imposition of lockdown, throat swabs of 39 people were sent for polymerase chain reaction test to Seti Provincial Hospital in Dhangadi, as the Provincial Hospital in Surkhet was overwhelmed with samples.

Of the 39, swabs of two persons have tested positive. Karnali Minister of Social Development Dal Rawal said swabs would be sent to the National Public Health Laboratory in Kathmandu for confirmation.

Both the men had returned from India. “We’ll place them in the isolation ward at Chaurhajari Community Hospital,” said Minister Rawal.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on April 16, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.