• 288 COVID cases in a day
• Nepal count tops 2,000

KATHMANDU, JUNE 2

Six people from Kathmandu valley, including four health workers, were among 288 people who were diagnosed with the novel coronavirus disease in Nepal today.

With this, the number of people who have contracted COVID-19 in Nepal so far stands at 2,099, confirmed the Ministry of Health and Population.

“A doctor and two nurses working in Kathmandu Medical College, Duwakot, and a nurse working at Manmohan Memorial Medical College and Teaching Hospital, Swoyambhu, tested positive for the infection,” said Basudev Pandey, director at Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, under the Department of Health Services.

Apart from the four health workers, a 30-yearold woman from Changunarayan, Bhaktapur, and a 23-year-old pregnant woman from Dhading admitted to Paropakar Maternity and Women’s Hospital, Thapathali, also tested positive for the respiratory contagion in the valley. The woman from Dhading is in the 38th week of pregnancy. She was admitted to the hospital on May 27 as she was suffering from fever.

"After being diagnosed with the neo-coronavirus disease, she was sent to Patan Hospital, which has been designated for coronavirus treatment,” said Jageshwor Gautam, director at Paropakar Maternity and Women’s Hospital.

Besides these six cases, 74 people who tested positive for the virus are from Rautahat, 27 from Surkhet, 21 from Sarlahi, 18 from Salyan, 17 each from Dang, Banke and Siraha, 16 from Kapilvastu, 10 each from Achham, Rupandehi and Kalilali, nine from Dailekh, eight from Kanchanpur, six from Dhanusha, five each from Syangja and Parbat, three from Bardia, two each from Mahottari and Nuwakot and one each from Saptari, Bara, Nawalparasi (east), Nawalparasi (west) and Pyuthan.

Eighteen females are among those diagnosed with the virus today.

The samples that tested positive today were screened using the polymerase chain reaction method at the National Public Health Laboratory in Kathmandu, Bheri Hospital in Nepalgunj, Dhulikhel Hospital, Provincial Health Laboratory in Pokhara, BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan, Surkhet Provincial Hospital and Avian Disease Investigation Laboratory in Surkhet, Seti Provincial Hospital and Avian Disease Investigation Laboratory in Dhangadi, Rapti Academy of Health Sciences in Dang and Vector-borne Disease Research and Training Centre in Hetauda.

As of today, the contagion has spread to 61 districts in the country. As many as 168 cases have been detected in nine districts of Province 1; 816 in eight districts of Province 2; 54 in 12 districts of Bagmati Province; 37 in seven districts of Gandaki Province; 699 in 11 districts of Province 5; 252 in five districts of Karnali Province and 73 in nine districts of Sudurpaschim Province.

Meanwhile, 45 people recovered from the disease today, taking the number of patients in Nepal who have successfully fought COV- ID-19 to 266.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on June 3, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.