Govt bans entry of travelers from nine countries to curb possible outbreak of Omicron variant

KATHMANDU, December 3: The government has decided to ban entry of travelers from nine countries including South Africa where the first case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 was detected.

The decision will come into effect from midnight today.  

After the government order, the passengers coming from these nine countries should mandatorily stay in hotel quarantine for seven days on their own expenses.   

A meeting of the Council of Ministers held Monday had decided to restrict the passengers from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Malawi and Hong Kong.

The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers stated that the passengers coming to Nepal via those countries or those visiting there within the past three weeks would be restricted from coming to Nepal from midnight today. The government took such a decision to apply precautions against the new variant of COVID-19 that has gradually increased in recent days.

Likewise, the government has decided not to issue on-arrival visas to the foreigners coming from those countries.