By Ishwor Chandra Jha, Kathmandu, July 7: Over 99 per cent of COVID-19 patients in Nepal are asymptomatic while 97 per cent of the total infected persons are imported ones, according to the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP).

Till today, 16,168 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Nepal. Of the total cases, 7,499 have recovered while 35 have succumbed to the virus.

Dr. Jageshwor Gautam, MoHP spokesperson, said on Tuesday at a daily press briefing that a total of 260 thousand people were tested for COVID-19 in the PCR method so far.

Dr. Basu Dev Panday, director at Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, said that in the study of the testing report of 12,000 confirmed cases that the MoHP conducted, less than a per cent of the confirmed cases had any symptoms of COVID-19.

Of the 259 total confirmed cases in the Kathmandu Valley, 79 per cent of them had come from abroad, according to Dr. Panday.

Over 17, 000 Nepalis have been evacuated from abroad in the initiative of the government. Of them, 35 per cent had their PCR testing and another 35 per cent had got RDT before getting on board.

He suggested having PCR testing of all evacuees from abroad before bringing them in.

He claimed that the novel coronavirus has not spread in the community level till the date. He said his claim had been supported by some preliminary studies, and argued," 87 per cent of the infected are the males. If the infection had spread in the community, wife and children of the infected should also have been found with the virus."