298 people at Suncity apartment have been tested negative for COVID-19: Health Ministry

Two hundred ninety eight people living at Suncity apartment have been tested negative for coronavirus, said the Ministry of Health and Population.

The government had carried out a mass test of the suspected people for the infection following confirmation of two persons for the virus on Tuesday, said the Ministry's Spokesperson Dr Bikash Devkota at a regular press conference organised by the Ministry.

The infected persons arrived in Nepal from United Kingdom. Of the three suspected persons at the apartment, one, who was initially tested positive for the infection through rapid diagnostic test (RDT), one was confirmed free of the virus later through polymerase chain reaction, he said.

The tests of the people sharing the apartment with the two infected persons were carried out through the RDT method.

Meanwhile, testing through RDT has started in majority of the districts across the country. A total of 14 (seven districts in State 1, three in State 2, one each in Gandaki State and State 5 and two in Karnali State) are yet to get the service started, he said.

So far, 15,800 across the country have been tested for the infection through both RDT and PCR, he said. Likewise, 5,614 people have been quarantined and 117 have been kept in isolation. Thirteen suspected people have been put in red zone.