Nepal’s education minister Giriraj Mani Pokharel has tested positive for COVID-19 — the second Cabinet minister to possess contracted the deadly virus infection , consistent with media reports.
Pokharel, who was admitted to Patan Hospital on Saturday evening after developing mild fever, tested positive for the virus on Sunday afternoon during a PCR test, MyRepublica reported on Sunday.
His health is stable, consistent with a member of the minister’s secretariat.
Pokharel is that the second minister within the Cabinet of Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli to possess contracted the contagion, which has thus far infected over 1,07,750 people and claimed 636 lives within the Himalayan nation.
On Saturday, Nepal’s tourism minister Yogesh Bhattarai announced on social media that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and requested all those that came in his contact to get on alert.
According to a report within the Himalayan Times, both Bhattarai and Pokharel had attended a gathering of the Council of Ministers on Thursday.
Bhattarai had also met India’s Ambassador to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra on Friday to debate ways to market tourism in both countries.
Kwatra has quarantined himself. However, his health is sweet and he had not developed any symptoms of infection, Indian Embassy spokesperson Abhisekh Dubey said on Sunday. PT