Health
Public health laboratory confirms third Covid-19 case
The laboratory confirmed the presence of the coronavirus in a 32-year-old man who had just returned from the Middle East.Arjun Poudel
Nepal’s third Covid-19 case has just been confirmed in a 32-year-old man who returned from Sharjah of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, according to Rajesh Kumar Gupta, spokesperson for the National Public Health Laboratory.
The man, a local of Dhading district, returned to Nepal on March 19 via Air Arabia, which landed at 4:45 pm. He came into the hospital himself after coming down with a fever, sore throat and cough, according to healthcare officials.
“Our laboratory confirmed the positive case yesterday night,” said Gupta.
Read: The Covid-19 outbreak so far and how Nepal can prepare for the worst
The man is currently in isolation at the Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital and the laboratory has informed the Ministry of Health about the result, according to Gupta.
Health Minister Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal said that the man had been living in a hotel after returning to Kathmandu. He is not believed to have taken any self-quarantine measures.
“The authorities have started the process to trace his contacts from the hotel,” Dhakal told the Post.
Also read: Test, test, test, says WHO but Nepal has neither the means nor the matter
Meanwhile, doctors at the Sukraraj Hospital had cordoned off the director's room on Wednesday after learning of the third confirmed case through the media, warning that they would no longer continue risking their and their family members’ lives if critical information is withheld again.
“We have to treat the patients and deal with their relatives, but they [the hospital administration] are not giving us information,” Dr Sher Bahadur Pun of the hospital told the Post. “They also kept us in the dark about the second case also. Imagine how risky it is?”
Dr Sagar Rajbhandari, director of the Sukraraj Hospital said that he too was awaiting official communication from the laboratory informing him of the results.
This is Nepal’s third confirmed case of Covid-19 and the second active case. Earlier, on Sunday, a 19-year-old Nepali student who had returned from France via Qatar had tested positive for Covid-19. In January, a 31-year-old Nepali student who had returned from Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei province in China, which is also the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, had tested positive. The man recovered and was subsequently discharged from the hospital.
Meanwhile, the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, the agency responsible to contain the spread of deadly disease throughout the country, said that officials have been deployed for contact tracing to the people come in close contact of the patient, infected with the Covid-19.
“We will also trace contact of people returned to Nepal in the same flight, in which the positive patient came,” Dr Basudev Pandey, director at the Division, told the Post. “We will identify them and ask them to stay in strict home quarantine, and if symptoms develop, we will bring them to hospital.”