Two-month-old baby among 17 new COVID-19 cases in Nepal

A two-month-old baby was among 17 new COVID-19 cases reported in Nepal, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

As many as 14,096 coronavirus tests have been conducted so far in Nepal.

Seventeen people, aged between two months and 66 years, from Birgunj city in Parsa district have been tested positive for the coronavirus, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 99, health ministry officials said.

The officials said three patients who were cured of the viral infection have been readmitted to the isolation facilities after they were tested positive for the virus in the follow-up tests.

A 58-year-old man from Kathmandu who was discharged on April 23 and a 19-year-old youth from Rautahat and a 44-year-old man from Parsa who were discharged on April 26 have been tested positive for the coronavirus again, they said.

Meanwhile, six Indian nationals, who had come to Nepal after attending the Tablighi Jamaat gathering in Delhi in March and were tested COVID-19 positive, have been discharged from hospital after they were cured of the disease, the officials said.

They will be kept in isolation for a week to monitor their condition before being allowed to return to India, the health ministry said.

The six were among the 13 Indian nationals undergoing treatment at the Biratnagar-based hospital for the past 20 days.

Twenty-two coronavirus patients have been cured so far, the officials said.

Tablighi Jamaat members have emerged as the prime suspects among potential coronavirus carriers, not just in India, but also in Pakistan, Malaysia and Brunei.

In India, the Jamaat has come under severe criticism for defying the lockdown and organising the congregation in south Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz last month.

According to officials in Delhi, as many as 2,100 foreigners visited India for Tablighi activities since January 1 and all of them first reported at its headquarters in Nizamuddin.