Nepal ahead in COVID-19 testing among South Asia countries

Published On: July 8, 2020 10:05 PM NPT By: RSS

KATHMANDU, July 8: Nepal is ahead in terms of the scope of COVID-19 testing in the South Asia.

Nepal is ahead in the testing than other South Asian countries, said Dr Jageshwor Gautam, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Population amid a regular press conference here on Wednesday.

Nepal carried out the testing of 9,156 people per 1 million, while the figure stood at 7,588 in India. Likewise, in Pakistan, 6,640 people got the testing, 5,416 in Bangladesh, 5,359 in Sri Lanka and 1,990 in Afghanistan. So far in Nepal, 266,457 people got PCR testing with 4,696 in the past 24 hours, said Dr Gautam.

Now in Nepal, the testing takes place from 25 laboratories across the country. The number of the virus infected has reached 16,423 with 255 new cases on Wednesday. Of the infected, 7,752 were discharged from health institutions after recovery with 253 in the past 24 hours, he said. In Nepal, 35 people have died from the infection.

In Nepal, one death per 1 million infected has occurred among South Asian countries, he said. The number of death toll per 1 million was 24 in Afghanistan, 22 in Pakistan, 15 in India, 13 in Bangladesh and 0.5 in Sri Lanka. Spokesperson Dr Gautam said that sample test of 266,457 has already been carried out so far. There are 25,040 people are now in quarantine and 8,636 in isolations.

A total of 253 people have been discharged after recovery in 24 hours. Similarly, 7,752 people have been discharged so far. The number of people downloading 'Hamro Swasthya' application has reached 157,880. Likewise, 2.959 million people have viewed the website of the ministry and 400,130 are viber group users.

He shared that the ministry has received the information that some of health science academies have been charging fees for corona test. Spokesperson Gautam further said that action would be taken against those institutions if they are found charging fees for the test as it is being carried out at government expenses.

The ministry has also requested the people not to go out from house except for essential work and not to gather in crowd. He said, "We all should now adopt health precaution as festivals, fairs and processions will take place next year too."

The Ministry Spokesperson stressed that the family and society should treat coronavirus survivors postively. Coronavirus has been confirmed in 23 people in Kathmandu Valley in last 24 hours. According to the Ministry, 16 people in Kathmandu district and seven in Lalitpur district have tested positive to COVID-19.