26 Nepal MPs diagnosed with COVID-19 ahead of PM's vote of confidence

A total of 26 Members of Parliament have tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's vote of confidence scheduled for next Monday, the Parliament Secretariat confirmed.

RT-PCR (Real Time- Polymerase Chain Reaction) tests conducted from Wednesday to Friday ahead of Monday's special session confirmed infection in 26 members of parliament.

"A total of 205 5 honorable Members of Parliament underwent test for corona virus out of which 18 tested positive for the virus. Another 8 MPs who had undergone tests on their own earlier were added to the list which takes the number of infected members in Lower House to 26. One member of the Upper House also tested positive in test," Rojnath Pandey, spokesperson at the Parliament Secretariat confirmed toover the phone.

As per the official, the final number of infected Members of Parliaments only can be ascertained after report of 54 others are confirmed. Tests of MP along with staffers of Parliament Building as well as security officials, parliamentary reporters and others were conducted from Tuesday to Thursday.

"A total of 1,235 people underwent tests over three days. Till today we have got confirmation that 160 have tested positive for the virus while we are waiting for report of 54 other members of parliament," the official added.

Those Members of Parliament who abstained from the tests have been asked to undergo diagnosis on their own before they attend Monday's special session.

With the withdrawal of CPN- Maoist Centre, embattled Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli now heads a minority government falling short of 15 votes to reach a simple majority. As per an official from the secretariat, discussions are going on about possibility and arrangements for those who have tested positive for the virus.

"We are holding talks with health experts about possibilities and arrangements that can be made for corona virus infected Members of Parliament. House Speaker and health officials are working on a possible way. We want to ensure voting right of every lawmaker on Monday's floor-test," secretary at Parliament Secretariat Gopinath Yogi said.

( With inputs from ANI )