KATHMANDU, April 8: As the entire world is battling against the coronavirus pandemic, South Asian countries are no exception.
South Asia remained least affected by the coronavirus till January after the virus emanated from China's Wuhan city in late December. However, the deadly virus is now spreading to all countries of this region.
COVID-19 outbreak in SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) member countries is not that wildest like in western countries, yet, it does not mean this region is free from the dark show of this global pandemic.
Out of 8 SAARC nations, India with the highest population in the region is the worst affected with 149 deaths and 5194 infected cases. 402 of them have already recovered.
SAARC Artists Camp in Nepal
Pakistan has the second-highest number of confirmed cases. Of 4204 infected patients, 467 have recovered and 61 died.
COVID-19 cases in Afghanistan have reached as many as 423 in Afghanistan with 12 deaths.
This deadly virus took 20 lives in Bangladesh infecting 218. Of them, 33 have recovered.
Sri Lanka, with 188 positive cases has a death toll of 6 while 42 have fully recovered from this fatal disease.
The Maldives has 19 cases with no casualties. 13 infected patients in this archipelago have won their fight against COVID-19.
Since its first case was confirmed on January 24, Nepal has witnessed a total of 9 COVID-19 cases. With no deaths so far, the first patient has already recovered.
Bhutan, a mountainous kingdom has so far confirmed 5 cases, the least number in this region. 2 of them have already recovered. No death has been reported so far.
