Seventeen of a Parsa family test positive for coronavirus infection
- Two-month-old infant among the infected
- Nine of those contracting disease below 14 years
Kathmandu, May 6
Seventeen of a family tested positive for coronavirus infection in Parsa today, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases detected so far in the country to 99.
This is the biggest single-day spike in the number of cases confirmed with coronavirus in Nepal. Earlier on May 3, 16 people had tested positive — 15 from Nepalgunj and one from Parsa.
“Ten males and seven females, including a two-month-old baby, tested positive today,” said Bikash Devkota, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Population, during a media briefing. From among those testing positive, nine are below 14 years of age, while eight are in the age group 22 to 66 years.
Throat and nasal swabs of the 17 were sent to National Public Health Laboratory, Teku, in Kathmandu, where they tested positive using the polymerase chain reaction method.
Earlier, a 36-year-old man from Chhapkaiya, Birgunj Metropolitan City, had tested positive for novel coronavirus on May 3. All those who tested positive today are his relatives.
“Throat swab and nasal swab of about 50 persons were collected on May 4 after tracing contacts of the 36-year-old patient. The samples were sent to NPHL,” said Lalit Kumar Basnet, information officer at District Administration Office, Parsa.
According to the health ministry, all those who tested positive today are asymptomatic. They have been admitted to the isolation ward of Narayani Hospital, Birgunj. “Twenty-eight patients are now there in the isolation ward,” said Madan Kumar Upadhyaya, medical superintendent at Narayani Hospital.
Meanwhile, three persons, who had tested negative for coronavirus and were discharged from hospitals, today tested positive for COVID-19 during follow-up. They include a 58-year-old resident of Sun City Apartments in Pepsicola, Kathmandu, a 19-year-old man from Rautahat and a 44-year-old man from Parsa.
The Pepsicola resident has been admitted to Patan Hospital, while the other two have been admitted to Narayani Hospital.
A version of this article appears in e-paper on May 7, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.
