Kathmandu: Three Indian nationals, who entered Nepal from India for a religious mass gathering and were staying at a mosque in the southern part of the country, have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the health ministry here said on Sunday.
The three Indian men, aged 37, 44 and 55 years, were staying at the mosque in Birgunj city, 135 kilometres south of the capital Kathmandu, due to the nationwide lockdown which has been imposed till April 15 to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus in the country, the Ministry of Health and Population said.
With the three fresh cases, the total number of infections in the country has gone up to 12.
The three Indian nationals had reportedly entered Nepal for a religious mass gathering held in Saptari district in March in which hundreds of people from Nepal and India participated.
According to a local media report, the Indian nationals are local religious heads and had taken part in a Tabligi Jamaat congregation in Delhi before entering Nepal in March.
At least 9,000 people participated in the religious congregation in Nizamuddin last month, which has become the biggest hotspot for the spread of the coronavirus in India.
The three Indian nationals, who tested for positive, are undergoing treatment and their condition is normal, said the Health Ministry.
The ministry has also dispatched a team to trace people who came in contact with the three infected persons.
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The local administration has put 26 people, who were residing in the mosque, under quarantine.
The Nepal government decided to extend the nationwide lockdown at a Cabinet meeting held on April 6 after the country entered into the second phase of the coronavirus outbreak with the first case of locally transmitted person confirmed in Western Nepal.
It was the second time that the government extended the lockdown.
The government had initially announced a week-long nationwide shutdown on March 24. On March 29, it was extended till April 7.
So far 5,184 tests have been conducted in the country, with 795 new tests conducted in the past 24 hour, according to Health Ministry spokesperson.
Globally, the novel coronavirus that originated in China in December has killed 108,862 people and infected over 1.7 million people globally. The US has the highest number of infections at 529,887, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
The US on Sunday overtook Italy as the country with the highest number of deaths due to COVID-19 pandemic with the fatalities crossing 20,000.
PTI
