POKHARA, June 22: An elderly man has tested positive for Covid-19 in Mustang. According to the Gandaki Province Health Directorate, an 83-year-old male from Gharapjhong Rural Municipality tested positive for the virus. Previously, this himalayan district had no record of the Covid-19 infection. However,  after this senior citizen tested positive for Covid-19, the virus has now spread to all 11 districts in the province.

GULMI, May 26: Two more persons tested positive for COVID-19 in Gulmi district. With this, the total number of the people infected by this fatal disease has reached four in the district.

FRANKFURT, May 4: More than 10 times as many people in Germany have likely been infected with the coronavirus than the number of confirmed cases, researchers from the University of Bonn have concluded from a field trial in one of the worst hit towns.

NEW DELHI, April 30: India has recorded its 1,000th novel coronavirus death, but the head of a government think-tank said on Wednesday that its 1.3 billion people, strained from weeks of lockdown, were not experiencing the feared exponential surge in infections.

NEW DELHI/MALE, April 18: The number of people infected with the coronavirus crossed 22,000 in densely populated South Asia on Friday driven by a rise in cases in India as the tiny Indian Ocean island nation of Maldives locked down its capital.

KATHMANDU, April 12: So far, 14 Nepalis have died from the global pandemic of coronavirus while 665 have tested positive for the virus across the world.

The world is under the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic—affecting each and every aspect of our life. Lockdown and social distancing have become new normal. Needless to say, no one has been immune to the economic and social fallout of this crisis. Yet, the countries are combating it by taking various measures, because of which people from across the world have started seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Hardest hit the Chinese city of Wuhan has gotten back to normal, for example, and many others are expected to follow suit. Amid the global crisis, however, there is also a rising unity among people to help out those who are suffering or who need help. We have been seeing the good number of good Samaritans coming forward to contribute toward the alleviation of pain and chaos emanating from the pandemic, signaling that the humanity in us is still alive. But sadly, and very, unfortunately, acts of stigmatizing people who are tested positive or who are even just suspected of infection have also started to come out.

MADRID, March 27: Spain’s coronavirus death toll rose by 832 cases overnight to 5,690, the health ministry said on Saturday, marking a new high in the daily rise in fatalities.

Yet another person has been tested positive of Covid-19 on Wednesday, according to National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) of Ministry of Health, making the number of total positive cases three out of the total tests of 687.  That Nepal has not had to witness fatality so far is a matter of relief but many think that we have negligible positive cases because Nepali health authorities have not tested the people. To test the people, health facilities must have protective gears and test kits as well, which they do not have.  Worldwide, the number of infection is rising. So is the number of deaths too. In this context, Nepali authorities must do at least two vital things to ensure that the pandemic can be contained.   First, trace.  Health authorities need to trace all persons the infected came into contact with and bring them to medical facilities. They should be tested and even if they are found negative they should be put in quarantine depending on the severity of the case.  For the moment, it is crucial to trace the contacts and whereabouts of all those who were in contact with two persons recently tested positive.  And then, having traced them, health authorities should test all of them. Given the speed in which Covid-19 is spreading, health authorities should test every individual who has the symptoms of flu and fever.