SURKHET, OCTOBER 1

A senior orthopaedic specialist Dr Hari Prasad Sapkota, who had been serving at Karnali Province Hospital of Surkhet, died in the course of treatment in Nepalgunj this afternoon.

Dr Sapkota was confirmed with COVID-19 on September 14. Initially he was admitted to the province hospital. Then he was shifted to Nepalgunj-based Bheri Hospital on September 17 on account of his worsening health condition.

Province Hospital director Dr Dambar Khadka confirmed that Dr Sapkota died while undergoing treatment in Nepalgunj after testing positive for coronavirus.

“As the doctor was also suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure, he was provided supplemental oxygen all along after he tested positive for the coronavirus. We learnt about his death at about 3:00pm today,” said Dr Khadka.

Following the doctor’s death, province hospital director Khadka and his team arrived in Nepalgunj today itself.

Sapkota is perhaps the first senior doctor to have succumbed to the coronavirus infection.

He had been working at the hospital for the past 15 years.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on October 2, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.