Coronavirus: Nepal evacuates 175 citizens from China

By Deepak Adhikari

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AA) - A flight carrying 175 Nepalese citizens, most of them students in China's Hubei province, arrived in the country's capital early on Sunday, a Health Ministry spokesman said.

They took off from Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus, and were taken to a remote government quarantine facility, said spokesman Mahendra Prasad Shrestha.

"They will remain at the facility for two weeks. Ten health workers checked their health on Sunday. We will continue to monitor them," Shrestha told Anadolu Agency.

"If anyone is tested positive during the surveillance, we will send him or her immediately to the hospital," he added.

Shrestha underlined that the evacuees would remain under observation for possible infection, even after allowed to return home.

Nepal has so far reported one case of coronavirus -- a male student -- who returned from China last month.