Kathmandu, December 18: Nepal on Saturday made two weeks quarantine mandatory for travelers arriving from 67 different countries, mainly from European and African countries, in wake of the rising Omicron variant of coronavirus.

"Passengers, traveling from the countries mentioned, are requested to stay in Hotel Quarantine for 7 days at their own expense. After staying seven days in Hotel Quarantine, in case of a negative test of Covid-19 by RT-PCR method, it is requested to stay in the home quarantine for additional 7 days and send the person with a positive result to the designated isolation center or hospital,"Nepal's Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.

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"Considering the upsurging spread of the new variant of COVID-19 (Omicron) initially found in African countries and gradually spreading in European and Asian countries, Nepal (Council of Ministers) has decided on 29 November 2021 to arrange provision the travelers traveling to and from Nepal," read the statement.

The statement said that the following arrangements have been made for the arrival of passengers from 67 countries in Nepal.

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The European and Asian countries are mainly included in the list of countries, including Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, United States.

"The entry/exit management of other travelers except mentioned above will be regulated as per the prior notice of the Department of Immigration dated 24 September 2021 and 2 December 2021 published as per the Travel Management Order for the Travelers Arriving and Deporting from Nepal 2021," the statement added.

A new variant of COVID-19 was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) from South Africa on November 25. As per the WHO, the first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on November 9 this year.

On November 26, the WHO named the new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529, which has been detected in South Africa, as 'Omicron'. The WHO has classified Omicron as a 'variant of concern'.

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