Coronavirus: Saudi national suspected to be infected flees from hospital in Nepal

A Saudi national bearing symptoms of COVID-19 who landed in Nepal via China has fled from the hospital after doctors advised him to be quarantined. A spokesperson at the Ministry of Health and Population had acknowledged that a patient has fled nearly a week after doctors at Teku Hospital advised the foreign national to be admitted for observation.

Whereabouts of Saudi national unknown

Mahendra Shrestha, who is a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health told reporters that the Saudi national did want to be admitted into the hospital. He also added that the Saudi national could only speak in Farsi that caused problems with smooth communications. The authorities have not been able to contact him.

The Saudi national showed signs of having a fever and cold. No further details about the Saudi national was released by the Ministry of Health other than the fact that he had landed in Nepal via China a week ago. Nepal confirmed its first case of the Novel Coronavirus on January 19, making it the first confirmed case in South Asian nations. The infected was a student who had just returned from Wuhan and had tested positive for the virus.

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Infected patient released

In a similar incident, due to an administration error by a hospital in San Diego and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a woman who had tested positive for the novel Coronavirus was released. The patient was sent to a Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, instead of being isolated.

The woman in question arrived on the base on February 5. She was among the State Department flights that were bringing Americans back from Wuhan, China. Soon after reaching the base she started experiencing the symptoms of the coronavirus and was sent to UC San Diego Health. Three other people who were also exhibiting symptoms were also sent to UC San Diego Health.

According to reports, blood samples from the evacuees were sent to a CDC lab in Atlanta. Since some of the samples were miss-labelled, they were not tested. When the results did not reach UC San Diego Health, the CDC reported the results of other patients that tested negative.

After realising their mistake, the woman was tracked down and returned to UC San Diego Health where she remains in isolation.

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