KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), in its regular press briefing, shared the latest COVID-19 updates from across the country, as of today.

As many as 602 laboratory tests (through Polymerase Chain Reaction method) were carried out in the past 24 hours in the country to detect COVID-19 infection in order to curb its spread.

It was made public that 19,454 Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDT) -- to detect the presence of antibodies in the blood sample -- have been run across the country, as of today, with 2,889 tests being run in the last 24 hours.

Spokesperson at the Ministry of Health and Population Dr Bikash Devkota shared that RDT has begun in all of the 77 districts across the seven provinces of the country.

As of today, there are 4,536 people under quarantine in various facilities across the country while 117 are under isolation. Among those isolated, five are in Kathmandu valley while the remaining 112 are outside.

The government-established helpline call-centres (1115/1133) have answered 3,021 queries regarding COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. Likewise, 20,130 entries have been made through the government’s mobile application Hamro Swasthya and web portal covid.mohp.gov.np until today. Of these, 1,118 entries were made in the last 24 hours.

Three new persons have been added to the red-zone list in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of those in the red zone to 254. The contact tracing of these persons is underway, said Spokesperson Devkota.

The Ministry today officially announced that 14 new cases of the COVID-19 infection were reported on Friday -- 12 from Udayapur district and two from Chitwan. Yesterday's dramatic spike has taken Nepal's COVID-19 count to 30. Out of this number, two persons have recovered as of today while 28 are active cases -- 1 in Kathmandu, 2 in Lalitpur, 2 in Baglung, 2 in Chitwan, 5 in Dhangadhi, 4 in Birgunj, and 12 in Biratnagar (Udayapur cases). All of the patients have been reported in normal condition.

All of those infected have been reported in normal health condition and are receiving treatment in various health facilities across the country.

In one of today's major developments, one of the patients receiving treatment at Teku-based Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital was discharged after testing negative for COVID-19 after 27 days of treatment at the facility. Including this case, two patients have recovered from the contagion as of today, giving a hint of hope while the number of infections in Nepal is on the rise.

An interview of the recovered 19-year-old has also been made public in which she shares her experiences of battling the novel infection.

READ MORE: “Self-isolation key to prevent COVID-19 spread”

Dr Devkota, speaking on behalf of the ministry, also appealed to the media outlets to not reveal the identities of the COVID-19 infected persons, which is a violation of privacy.

Spokesperson Devkota concluded the press briefing by requesting the people to indulge their children and young adults in creative and productive endeavours while at home to ensure their mental health.

VIDEO: Second person recovering from COVID-19 shares experience