Many labs in Nepal halt coronavirus test as 30,000 kits are stuck in Singapore

As the number of coronavirus infected persons is increasing in the country, many laboratories in Nepal have halted the test citing the lack of test kits.

On the other hand, 30,000 coronavirus polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test kits that the Swiss government announced to have donated to Nepal are waiting to be brought in the country. Currently, they are stuck in Singapore.

The government looks helpless–it is neither able to purchase the kits on its own nor can bring in the stuck kits. Health officials have informed that there are just a few hundred kits available in the labs of Kathmandu and Nepalgunj, the latest hotspot of coronavirus infection, and they will suffice for just a couple of days.

If the government fails to effect the delivery of the kits stuck in Singapore, the test service will be suspended across the country, they warn.

It has been over two weeks since the Swiss government announced the support, but the government in Kathmandu has been unable to receive it. Sources say chartering a flight to Singapore and bringing the supplies here costs around Rs 7 million, and the government is unwilling to spend it as far as possible.

Therefore, efforts are underway to find alternative solutions. The government officials tried to convince the Australian Embassy in Kathmandu to change the route of a flight it is chartering to repatriate its stranded citizens to Australia so that the Nepal Airlines aircraft can bring in the kits while returning. However, the embassy did not agree, citing it has already acquired consent from concerned governments about the route and it is too late to change them.

The NAC aircraft is flying to Sydney Wednesday via Malaysia, where it will refill its fuel.

The Nepali officials had tried to convince the embassy to make arrangements in a way that the aircraft will directly fly to Sydney, then fly to Singapore to refill fuel, where it will also supply the kits from.