KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 6

First two cases of people infected with the Omicron variant have been detected in Nepal.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, two individuals – a Nepali and a foreigner – have been found to have contracted the new variant of the coronavirus.

The Nepali national that has been detected with the variant is a 71-year-old while the foreigner is 66. The latter had entered Nepal via air, from Tribhuvan International Airport.

It has been learnt that the foreign visitor had produced a recent negative PCR report upon arrival.

Additionally, the Nepali national had come into contact with the visitor. They both eventually started showing symptoms of the infections and got tested, leading to a positive diagnosis.

During testing, the S-gene target was a failure following which gene sequencing was done, the omicron variant was detected during which.

As many as 66 samples of the individuals that had come in contact with the aforementioned two infected were tested, the results for which came negative.

All the samples were tested in National Public Health Laboratory in Teku.

(With inputs from Sabitri Dhakal)