Nepal suspends visa-on-arrival for 5 countries due to coronavirus

MANILA, Philippines – The Nepali government placed visa-on-arrival privileges on hold starting Tuesday, March 10, for visitors from 5 countries seriously affected by the new coronavirus outbreak.

Potential travelers from South Korea, Japan, Italy, Iran, and China – including Taiwan, as it is considered by the Nepali government as part of China – are now required to submit a health certificate and visa application in advance to the Nepali embassy in their country. 

“A Cabinet meeting on Sunday decided to discontinue visa-on-arrival for nationals of these 5 countries to avoid the risk of the deadly diseases being spread in Nepal,” Yogesh Bhattarai, minister for culture, tourism, and civil aviation told China’s state-run Xinhua news agency. 

According to Nepal’s Department of Immigration, Nepal was visited in 2019 by 169,543 Chinese mainland visitors; 30,534 Japanese visitors; 29,680 South Korean visitors; 15,676 Italian visitors; 1,882 Iranian visitors.

Across the world there have been almost 105,000 cases recorded in 95 countries and territories with 3,556 deaths.

The main countries affected are mainland China (80,651 cases, 3,070 deaths), South Korea (6,767 cases, 44 deaths), Italy (5,883 cases, 233 deaths), Iran, (5,823 cases, 145 deaths), France (949 cases, 16 deaths) and Germany (785 cases, no deaths).

Nepal has one reported coronavirus case, and the first South Asian nation to confirm an infection. – Rappler.com