KATHMANDU, March 31: Covid-19 has been confirmed in 42 more people in Nepal in the last twenty-four hours. According to the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD), there are 123 active infected people in Nepal. Covid-19 has been confirmed in 42 people out of 915 samples tested in 24 hours.

The number of infected people is increasing every day for a week, said Chumanlal Das, director of the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division. In the last twenty-four hours, most people have been infected in Kathmandu. Among the infected, 34 people are from Bagmati province.

According to Chumanlal Das, it is unknown how harmful is the new variant of Covid-19. Das said that gene sequencing of samples of Covid-19 confirmed patients is being done and the severity of the new variant will be confirmed only after the report.

"We will say whether it is a new variant or a modified variant of the Omicron virus that appeared in India only after the gene sequencing report," he said. Sher Bahadur Pun, the chief of clinical research unit at Shukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital said that the symptoms of the patients who arrived at the hospital are different from Omicron virus and can only be confirmed after testing.

According to him, the current covid-19 infected people have symptoms such as loss of taste and smell and stomach ache, symptoms those are not consistent with Omicron virus. Looking at the symptoms, unlike the sub-variant of Omicron seen in India, it is estimated that it may be a hybrid variant made from different sub-variants. "It appears that it may be a subspecies of Omicron as it has appeared in India, but it might also be a new subspecies that have appeared in Nepal," Pun said.

 
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