Nepal on Wednesday confirmed a new infection with novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Nepal Ministry of Health and Population said.

It is the third confirmed case of COVID-19 in the Himalayan country after first was identified in late January and second on Monday.

Bikas Devkota, spokesperson at Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population confirmed to Xinhua on Wednesday that the third person, who is taking a medical care in isolation, was found infected with the virus during the slab test. "I have not got other details about the person," he said.

Nepal has relatively low number of confirmed cases, as the Himalayan country has been unable carry out large scale testing. According to the ministry, the country has so far tested 687 samples among which 684 were tested negative.

The Nepali government has launched stringent measures to prevent the spread of the pandemic, including the week-long lockdown nationwide, closure of all border points, suspension of all international flights and closure of offices except the emergency ones.