Following the spread of Coronavirus in China, the Nepal government has suspended issuing visas for Chinese nationals entering Nepal for 15 days. Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notice to stop issuing upon arrival visa process.

Spokesperson Kedarnath Sharma told Deshsanchar that the border will be open after 15 days. The decision is very important in the context of the first confirmed patient reported in Tibet.

After the disclosure of the first case of coronavirus, last week and two are under observations, the government has issued announced several steps. However, they are yet to be effective.

The government has already established a health desk at Tribhuwan International Airport and screening the passengers arriving from China. Similarly, the government has also directed all provincial governments to establish a health desk in southern border point to test people entering to India and coming to Nepal.

“Our health desk is effectively monitoring the passengers coming from China,” said Mahendra Prasad Shrestha, spokesperson of the Ministry of Health and Population. “We are scanning each passenger coming from China. “

However, media reports show that it is inadequate and inefficient. “The airport health check post is ineffective and many passengers arriving from China allow leaving without any verification,” writes Deshsanchar online. “Most of the passengers left the arrival room without any notice of health desk.’

The Kathmandu Post also reported the pathetic situation of the health desk with inadequate equipment. According to health experts, there needs to test and check each and every passenger arriving from China and need to monitor them closely.

According to Aljazeera, Death toll jumps again, infections accelerate while airlines cut flights and businesses suspend operations. The death toll in China from a deadly new coronavirus rose to 170, state media said on Thursday, with the worst-hit province of Hubei reporting 37 fatalities.

Some 7,711 people in China are now confirmed to have the infection, with 1,032 new cases in Hubei, and the first confirmed patient reported in Tibet.

The World Health Organization on Wednesday warned all governments to "take action" over the SARS-like virus that originated in the Hubei capital of Hubei, as hundreds of foreigners were evacuated from the city.

Beyond China, more than a dozen countries have reported the illness, with new cases reported on Wednesday in Finland and the United Arab Emirates.

The WHO will hold an urgent meeting for Thursday over whether the outbreak should be declared a global health emergency - a designation that can lead to increased international coordination.

The agency has acknowledged the respiratory illness is an emergency in China but said last week it was too early to declare the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. It has described the global risk from the virus as high.