Nepal's coronavirus death toll rises to 157

Published On: August 24, 2020 07:00 PM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, Aug 24: Nepal reported eight more COVID-19 related deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the toll to 157.

At a media briefing on Monday afternoon, Jageshwar Gautam, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, said that three men aged 38, 53 and 54, and a 67-year-old woman from Rupandehi died of coronavirus in the past 24 hours.

Likewise, a 68-year-old man from Sunsari, a 65-year-old man from Morang, a 70-year-old woman from Parsa and a 48-year-old woman from Kathmandu succumbed to the novel coronavirus disease.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry said that 743 new cases of coronavirus were detected in the past 24 hours through 10,234 PCR tests conducted at various laboratories across the country. According to Spokesperson Gautam, the total number of country's coronavirus cases currently stands at 32,678. Of the newly-infected, 497 are males and 246 are females.

With 175 people being discharged after recovery from various isolation centers and health institutions across the country in the past 24 hours, the country's recovery tally has reached 18,806, according to Gautam.

The country's recovery rate is 58% of the total coronavirus infections, Gautam said.

Despite the government's efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus by enforcing numerous stricter measures in the Kathmandu Valley, the three districts of the Valley witnessed 100 plus cases of coronavirus every day for the past nearly two weeks.

The Valley alone witnessed 224 cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, according to the figure provided by the Health Ministry. This is the highest single-day spike of coronavirus cases in the Valley since the country reported the first case on January 24 this year.

Of the newly-confirmed cases, Kathmandu district alone reported 177 cases while 33 and 14 new patients tested positive for this infectious disease in Lalitpur and Bhaktapur in the last one day.

There are currently 13,715 active cases of coronavirus in various parts of the country, the ministry stated.