Nepal records highest single-day spike of 7,211 new COVID-19 cases

Nepal has recorded an all-time high of 7,211 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours as the Himalayan Nation has struggled to deal with the second wave of a pandemic that has taken the country by surprise.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), a total of 17,770 samples were tested using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Antigen Test. Out of those tested in the last 24 hours, 7,211 were detected positive for coronavirus.

According to government data, the infection rate of Nepal now stands high by 13.8 per cent as compared to earlier weeks.

"This shows that Nepal also falls under nations in the world with the high infection rate," Dr Birajman Karmacharya, Director at Public Health and Community Program of Dhulikhel Hospital said.

"Positivity ratio of those tested now stands at 37 per cent. While Karnali has the highest positivity ratio at 67.9, Lumbini has the ration of 61.3 percent. The ratio should have stayed lower than 5 percent," Karmacharya added.

There are currently 48,711 active cases of COVID-19 across the country. Of them, 3,530 are in isolation centers and 45,181 are in home isolation.

Similarly, the health ministry also recorded 27 more fatalities related to COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. Likewise, there are currently 477 COVID-19 patients in ICU and 131 on ventilators.

The MoHP also maintained that the number of people diagnosed with COVID-19 in Nepal has increased by 136.8 percent compared to last week. This shows that the COVID-19 infection rate is doubling just in a week.

( With inputs from ANI )