• Five contract the virus in valley
• Sixty-two-year-old patient discharged from Koshi Hospital

Kathmandu, May 19 Twenty-seven more people, including five from Kathmandu valley, were detected with the novel coronavirus disease today, taking the number of those contracting COVID-19 in the country to 402. Among those testing positive for the virus in Kathmandu valley, three are from Kathmandu and one each is from Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. According to the Ministry of Health and Population, nine of the infected are from Jhapa, four from Kapilvastu, two from Sarlahi and one each from Morang, Sunsari, Makawanpur, Ramechhap, Sindhuli, Lamjung and Nawalparasi districts. According to Bikas Devkota, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Population, those who tested positive today are between the ages of 17 and 42. Three of them are females. “Contact tracing of those who tested positive today has been started by the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division under the Department of Health Services,” said Devkota. “The three patients from Kathmandu had gone to Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, Teku, for testing on their own. They are from Tarakeshwor, Gokarneshwor and Kalimati,” said Basudev Pandey, director. Epidemiology and Disease Control Division. Samples of 26 hospital staffers and three visitors of  the 41-year-old teacher from Gulmi district undergoing treatment at the intensive care unit of Crimson Hospital in Manigram of Tilottama Municipality, Rupandehi, were collected today. The person was admitted to the hospital after he complained of fever and breathing difficulty and tested positive for COVID-19. Coronavirus infection has so far spread to 36 districts across the country. Meanwhile, a 62-year-old person undergoing treatment at Koshi Hospital was discharged today after staying 25 days in the hospital. He is the 37th COVID-19 patient to have recovered. A 29-year-old postpartum woman from Sindhupalchowk district and a 25-year-old man from Banke district have succumbed to the disease in Nepal. A version of this article appears in e-paper on May 20, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.