Kathmandu: The Nepal government has turned a party venue in Bhaktapur into a holding centre for Nepalis flying in from abroad, the first of many such centres in Kathmandu.

The facility in Sallaghari of Bhaktapur has been converted from a banquet venue to a centre that will hold up to 500 incoming passengers to wait a few days for their coronavirus test results. The passengers will be bused in from the airport and taken to their Provinces for self-isolation if the tests come negative. The holding centre will be from those belonging to Province 2. Those who test positive will be taken to quarantine centres before being sent home.
 
The first flights with Nepalis stranded abroad are expected to arrive on Friday, the first from Burma and another from the UAE.

Nepali embassies abroad have prepared a list of Nepalis who have been stranded since the flight ban on 24 March. Nepali undocumented workers abroad who have been granted amnesty, those whose contacts have expired, stranded Nepali tourists and those on short-term and tourist visas, pregnant and disabled will be given priority.

There are 3,500 Nepali undocumented workers in Kuwait who are being flown back by the Kuwait government, and there are said to be at least 8,000 waiting in UAE, unspecified numbers in other Gulf countries, and Malaysia. Nepalis visiting the United States, Australia and other European countries also need to be flown back.
 
Returnees also have an option to go to designated hotels while they wait for test results, which they have to pay for themselves. The government expects employers in Malaysia and the Gulf to pay for the tickets of returning workers, or the host country governments.

https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-readies-holding-centres-for-first-returnee-flights/