Nepal registers two new coronavirus cases, tally at 54

Nepal said on Tuesday that two men, who returned from India last month, have been tested coronavirus positive, bringing the total number of the COVID-19 patients in the country to 54.

The two men, aged 35 years and 24 years, were staying in quarantine after returning from India, one from Kolkata and the other from Delhi, the Ministry of Health and Population said.

The two men were tested COVID-19 positive on Tuesday.

According to the Himalayan Times, the 24-year-old person earlier had tested negative for antibodies on Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) and negative for the virus through Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method carried out in Janakpur.

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"However, his swab sample collected by a medical team on April 24 and sent to Kathmandu-based National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) tested positive for the novel virus," the paper said.

The other person, who was tested positive, had travelled to Nepal from Delhi during the lockdown. He worked in a bag factory located at Paharganj in the Indian capital, the paper said.

So far, COVID-19 tests have been conducted on 10,807 people. Sixteen people have returned home after their successful treatment.

Currently, there are 38 active patients undergoing treatment at various hospitals across the country.

Nepal has been under lockdown since March 23. All government services other than essential have been shut down. On Sunday, the government extended the nationwide lockdown till May 7 to stop the spread of the virus.

Nepal's tourism sector is the worst hit by the pandemic. The Hotel Association of Nepal has projected that the hotel business income will decline by 90 per cent in 2020 and has asked the government to adopt special measures to protect the industry.