Nepal's COVID-19 cases rise to 258; 9 new cases registered on Friday morning

Nepal's COVID-19 cases on Friday morning shot up to 258 adding on nine new cases, the Ministry of Health and Population confirmed.

As per the release, one new case was reported from Makwanpur while eight others hails from Narainapur Rural Municipality of Banke District.

"Their swab samples were tested through Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method at National Public Health Laboratory, Kathmandu and Bheri Hospital, Nepalgunj. Their condition is normal and are in contact with the doctors and medical personnel," Deputy Spokesperson at Ministry of Health Dr. Samirkumar Adhikari said.

8 new cases reported in Banke of Nepal's Province no. 5 have been kept under quarantine after they arrived Nepal from Southern India after the lockdown started, Chief Minister of the state confirmed.

"Those 8 new cases reported in Banke came to Nepal about a week before and were on mandatory quarantine. Their swab samples were sent for the test to Bheri Hospital for further confirmation. They said they entered Nepal from Southern India despite lockdown and all are Nepali nationals," Shankar Pokhrel, Chief Minister of Province no.5 told over phone.

Nepal's Parsa district till date has recorded 85 cases of SARS-CoV-2 while Kapilvastu has 39, Banke 33, Udaypur 32, Rupandehi 28, Kathmandu 8, Kailali 4 cases.

Rautahat, Bara and Dhanusha District have 3 cases each while Baglung, Chitwan, Jhapa, Sarlahi, Mahottari and Bhaktapur reported 2 cases each.

Other districts Bhojpur, Saptari, Bardiya, Kanchanpur, Nawalparasi-East, Nawalparasi-West, Makwanpur and Saptari has recorded one case each.

Nepal by Friday morning has tested 22,673 samples using Polymerase Chain Reaction while 62,327 tests has been conducted using Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT). With zero mortalities, number of successful recoveries in the Himalayan Nation stands at 36.

( With inputs from ANI )