The Kathmandu Valley witnessed as many as 724 new cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the past 24 hours. The Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) confirmed 583 cases in Kathmandu district alone. Similarly, 78 more people in Lalitpur and 63 in Bhaktapur districts were diagnosed with this viral disease. With this, the total number of people being infected with the disease in the country’s federal capital has crossed the 20,000 mark. As of Saturday, the Valley has witnessed a total of 20,498 cases which account for 28.54 percent of the total infections across the country.
Dr Dibya Singh Shah, the personal physician of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, has contracted coronavirus. Shah, who is also the dean of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), tested positive for the virus. After testing positive for the virus, Dr Shah has been staying isolated at her home.
Republica Morning Brief: Oct 22
A total of 76,967 Nepali people stranded in different countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic have returned home so far. According to the COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre (CCMC), 76,967 Nepali nationals left stranded in 32 different countries have returned home. Of the total number, the highest (22,214) have returned from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and lowest (five) from Sri Lanka. Likewise, 10,306 have returned from Qatar, 8,335 from Kuwait, 11,352 from Malaysia, 11,819 from Saudi Arabia, 1,447 from South Korea, 1,274 from Bahrain, 1,150 from Oman, 1,091 from Australia and 936 from Turkey.
A group of youths staged a demonstration in Kathmandu, demanding justice to 12-year-old Samjhana Kami from Bajhang district in Far-western Nepal. She was raped and murdered a few days ago. In the protest organized by the United Dalit Youths Struggle Committe at Maitighar on Saturday afternoon, the participants demanded stringent punishment against the rapists. The participants carried placards that read “Hang the rapists to death”, “Ensure rule of law”, “Justice for Samjhana”, and “Love me, but not rape” in a bid to exert pressure on the government to launch a thorough investigation into the case and take stringent action against the culprits.
A Nepal Army (NA) personnel succumbed to COVID-19 in Kathmandu on Friday. The deceased was from Bajhang district. According to NA’s Public Relation Directorate, the soldier was admitted to Birendra Hospital on Sept 22 after witnessing symptoms of seizure. He breathed his last while undergoing treatment at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital on Sept 25.
