Nepal has confirmed its fifth case of the novel coronavirus. The patient, a 19 year old woman had flown in from Belgium. Interestingly, she had flown in from Doha, Qatar to Kathmandu, Nepal on the same flight (QR652) as of Nepal’s second case – on the 17th of March.

‘She had been abiding by her self-quarantine rules’, we have been told. She has been placed under isolation and is undergoing treatment at the Dhaulagiri Hospital in Baglung.

This is Nepal’s fifth case, and three provinces have been affected by the virus so far, Bagmati Province, Gandaki Province, and Sudurpaschim Province.

Meanwhile, Dr. Bikash Dev furnished further details upon Nepal’s fourth case, a 34 year old man from Dhangadhi. The young man had arrived in Delhi via a Emirates flights, and from flown into Kathmandu on the 20th of March via Vistara Air. “We have initiated contact tracing of the individual, and also provided a virtual training session to provincial stakeholders”.

The Ministry also informed the public about a flight leaving for China to avail much needed medical supplies – ‘the list is long’, Dr. Devkota said the focus was on PPE and reagents for testing.

Dr. Devkota also informed that a swab testing centre has been established in Dharan, and plans for establishing the same in Hetauda, Pokhara, Nepalgunj were underway. Dharan will begin testing from today.