Patient suspected to be infected with coronavirus flees from hospital in Nepal

A Saudi national who recently came to Nepal from China bearing symptoms of COVID-19 or Coronavirus has fled from a Nepali hospital after doctors advised him to be quarantined, officials said on Wednesday.

A spokesperson at the Ministry of Health and Population acknowledged that a patient has gone on loose nearly a week after doctors at Teku Hospital advised the foreign national to be admitted for observation.

"He didn't want to be admitted, the Saudi national who only speaks Farsi was here from China. He came to the hospital after suffering from cold and was advised to be admitted at the hospital. He denied to be admitted, there was a problem in communication because he only spoke Farsi. He is not able to be contacted and is not admitted at the hospital. He was having fever and cold," Mahendra Shrestha, spokesperson at the Ministry of Health told reporters.

"It has been about a week, 5-6 days," Shrestha added.

No details have been released about missing Saudi national except that he flew into the Himalayan Nation via China a week before.

On January 19, Nepal had confirmed the first Coronavirus infection case amongst the South Asian Nations. A student reported to be back from Wuhan was tested positive with the virus and now has recovered, the official claimed.