Nepal on Saturday announced mandatory quarantines for travellers from 67 countries, in an attempt to control the Omicron variant of the Covid-19.

A statement issued by the Home Ministry of Nepal noted that travellers needed to undergo a 7-day mandatory quarantine for travellers from 67 different countries, mainly from European and African countries.

"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.

Maldives announced that the Omicron variant had been found locally on December 5th. The variant was confirmed from a passenger entering Maldives from South Africa. Four more cases of the Omicron variant was later confirmed. HPA noted that all four of these cases had a history of travel to South Africa.