DIPAYAL, MAY 23

Of the total 40,573 COVID-19 infections recorded in Sudurpaschim till now, 55 per cent have fully recovered, according to the Health Directorate in Dipayal.

The number of recoveries from the respiratory contagion in the province stands at 22,250, while 428 have succumbed to virus.

The population of the province is 2,552,517. Among them only 8 per cent i.e.

29,228 have undergone PCR and antigen tests.

A total of 171,763 had undergone the PCR test and 35,119 had been tested for antigens.

The infection rate in the province had spiked with the spread of the second wave of COVID-19. Kailali and Kanchanpur are the hardest hit districts in the province.

Reports of the past 24 hours from 12 health facilities providing COVID-19 treatment in the province stated that 42 patients were under ICU care and 12 were on ventilator support.

According to Dhangadi-based Seti Provincial Hospital, which is the only remaining 'referral' hospital in the province, 815 infected people, who make up around 86 per cent of inpatients had returned home since the outbreak of the second wave of Covid-19.

The total number of patients admitted after the outbreak of the second wave was 943, and the death toll is 145 (around 15 per cent).

Yesterday, 103 patients were receiving medical support at the hospital.

In the past 24 hours, nine new patients were admitted while ten returned home.

Likewise, 16 patients are being treated in the ICU.

So far, the hospital's PCR lab has produced 16,221 positive reports.

Hospital Information Officer Dilip Kumar Shrestha said that the late arrival of patients with severe symptoms make it difficult to save lives. 'As they receive treatment very late, the risk of death is high,'' he said.

Shortage of oxygen in the hospital has been addressed after the installation of oxygen concentrators last week.

A version of this article appears in the print on May 24, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.