CHITWAN, OCTOBER 13 Stakeholders have expressed concern about the alarming rate of COVID-19 related deaths in Chitwan of late. According to Public Health Officer Gitanjali Dhakal of Chitwan District Health Office, 2,792 persons have contracted the virus in the district. So far, the viral infection has claimed 36 lives here, while 1,672 infected persons have recovered and returned home. There are now 1,118 active cases in the district. “The death of 36 persons out of 2,000-plus infections gives us a death rate of 1.28, which is worrying against the 0.57 per cent death rate of the entire country,” said an expert. The country so far has recorded 111,802 cases. Of them, 645 have succumbed to the contagion. Again, most of the deaths have been reported from Bharatpur Hospital. As per records with the hospital, 5 per cent of those admitted to the hospital for treatment have died. Bharatpur Hospital Development Committee Chairperson Dr Bhojraj Adhikari attributed the increasing death rate to the tendency among COVID-19 patients staying in home-isolation to reach out to the hospital only after their condition became critical. “Most patients tend to stay in home isolation as long as their fever and cough are normal. They come to the hospital only when the infection has worsened and developed into pneumonia, which is why the death rate is increasing,” Dr Adhikari explained. Further, Adhikari advised COV- ID-19 patients staying in home isolation to regularly consult health workers about any minor health problem related to fever, changes in the level of oxygen in their blood and the likes. A version of this article appears in print on October 14, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.