The government has traced 125 people who shared the aircraft with the 19-year-old student, who has tested positive for COVID-19.
Though the government has not disclosed information about the flight or the number of on-board passengers, police said the student flew Qatar Airways (Flight No QR 652) with 158 passengers from Doha to Kathmandu on March 17.
The passengers have been asked to self-quarantine for 14 days.
“We collected personal details of all the passengers, who travelled with the COVID-19 patient, from the Department of Immigration. But so far we have been able to contact only 125 of them,” said DIG and Spokesperson for Nepal Police Shailesh Thapa Kshetri.
“They have been asked to immediately contact the nearest hospital if they show symptoms of coronavirus disease while under quarantine,” said Kshetri.
Nepal’s first case of COVID-19, a 32-year-old man who had returned from Wuhan, China, has recovered.
The 19-year-old girl is the second confirmed COVID-19 patient in Nepal. She had travelled to Nepal from France via Qatar and tested positive on Sunday.
Since Nepal confirmed the second coronavirus case, the government has started testing blood samples of all people above the age of 60 who show symptoms akin to COVID-19.
Globally, the virus has brutally attacked elderly people and those with weak immune system.
Currently, all coronavirus tests are being performed at National Public Health Laboratory in Teku. The lab can perform only 60 COVID-19 tests per day.
The government yesterday announced that BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan, Pokhara Institute of Health Sciences in Pokhara, and Bheri Zonal Hospital in Nepalgunj would soon start performing COVID-19 tests.