On Wednesday, the Health Ministry said that a 32-year-old Nepali man who had returned from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, on March 19 had tested positive for the coronavirus. There were eight individuals from Nawalparasi on the Air Arabia flight.

The local administration in Nawalparasi traced one among the eight but hasn’t been able to contact the rest.

Dipak Regmi, Superintendent of Police in Nawalparasi, said, “We found one individual on Saturday. He has been in self-quarantine since his return.”

The seven others were not found in the locations mentioned in their passports, he said.

Following the report of the Health Ministry, the Ministry of Home Affairs from the central level had directed the local administration to search for individuals on the same flight from Nawalparasi. Aananda Sharma, information officer of the District Administration Office, said they have directed the District Police Office to trace the locations and search for the missing on the basis of the name list provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Officials said there were 169 passengers on the Air Arabia flight which came to Kathmandu from Sharjah on March 19.