Kathmandu, February 6

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli today directed the line agencies to bring Nepali nationals from China where coronavirus was spreading like wildfire and quarantine them at four places of Kathmandu valley — Shivapuri, Surya Binayak, Ichangu Narayan and Kharipati. The PM also directed the line agencies to make provisions of treatment for the Nepalis who would be brought from China if they needed medical care.

One hundred and eighty Nepali nationals — mostly students — have filed applications at Nepali Embassy in China seeking immediate evacuation in the wake of coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, the capital city of the Hubei province.

According to PM’s Press Adviser Surya Thapa, the PM also asked the line agencies to exercise caution and make adequate preparations within the stipulated time to deal with the risk of coronavirus infection as per the government’s work plan.

The PM held a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Ishwar Pokharel, Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali, Minister of Health and Population Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal, Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai, Chief Secretary Lok Darshan Regmi and other high ranking officials and told them to bring back Nepali nationals from China and make adequate provisions for their quarantine at four places in Kathmandu valley. On the occasion, Secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office Narayan Prasad Bidari presented the government’s work plan to deal with coronavirus. The government also decided to provide 100,000 protective masks to China.

Meanwhile, parents of more than 25 Nepali nationals currently being confined to their apartments in Wuhan, the epicentre of coronavirus outbreak, today picketed the Ministry of Health and Population demanding that their children be brought back immediately from China.