All News

The number of COVID-19 infected people has reached 472,354 after additional 8,136 new cases were detected positive in Nepal on May 17, 2021. According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 352,414 of the total infected have recovered, and the recovery rate has reached 74.6% along with the 6,891 latest recovered.

According to the Ministry, 20,286 swab tests were conducted in the past 24 hours. Out of the total number of tests conducted on May 17, 40% were diagnosed positive and overall there were 16.8% people diagnosed positive till now. On May 17, 681 people below the age of 19 were diagnosed positive for COVID-19.

Till now, the death toll has reached 5,411. According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 196 people died on May 17. There are 114,529 in isolation. The Ministry of Health and Population has verified the existence of a third variant in the covid patients of Nepal.

 There are more than 500 active cases in Morang, Sunsari, Jhapa, Rautahat, Dhanusha, Parsa, Mahottari, Bara, Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Chitwan, Kavrepalanchowk, Makwanpur, Dhading, Nuwakot, Sindhupalchowk, Sindhuli, Kaski, Nawalparasi East, Gorkha, Tanahu, Syangja, Dang, Rupandehi, Banke, Palpa, Bardiya, Kapilbastu, Arghakhanchi, Nawalparasi West, Surkhet, Kailali, Kanchanpur, Baitadi and Achham.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 74 districts have been following complete or partial prohibition till May 17, 2021. 

In Province 1,

Nobel Hospital in Biratnagar has charged for the treatment of Covid-19 infected patients. The hospital had signed an agreement with the Ministry of Health and Population of the Government of Nepal on April 29 to provide free treatment. However, it has been proven that the hospital took Rs 87,000 from an infected person for treatment at Nobel Covid. The hospital has taken the amount from the patient by calculating the rate of PPE used by the doctor at the rate of Rs 2,500. The infected people have said that the hospital has taken money from them by adding the price of masks, sanitizers, and gloves. Novel Covid Hospital’s Focal Person Deepesh Neupane said that the hospital has charged for the treatment as per the agreement made with the government.

There is a shortage of kits for swab collection in Jhapa rural municipality as covid-19 infection has increased in the district. Laxman Bishwakarma, head of the health department of the rural municipality, said that there was a shortage of kits after the 150 kits provided by the health office to the municipality were used. The Budhhashanti Municipality has managed 15 oxygen cylinders and brought a well-equipped isolation centre into operation from May 18.

In Sankhuwasabha, the isolation centre with a capacity of 50 beds has been brought into operation in Chainpur with the joint investment of Chainpur, Dharmadevi, Madi and Panchkhapan municipalities due to the increase in covid-19 infection in the district, said Chainpur Municipality’s Mayor Bharat Kumar Khatri. Eighteen infected people have been kept in isolation since May 18.

According to Panchthar Representative Mangal Begha, the District Administration Office has extended the prohibition order till May 31 to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection in the district. Earlier, banks and financial institutions and shops providing essential services were allowed to operate only three days a week, said Assistant Chief District Officer Shah.

In Province 2,

In Saptari, the district coordination committee has decided to close all the local levels of Saptari on May 18. Chief of the District Coordination Committee, Prabhakar Yadav, said that it has been decided to close the local level in the district to express condolence over the death of a local representative due to COVID-19.

The 48-year-old died on May 18 due to lack of ventilator and ambulance. He was admitted to Chhinnamasta Hospital on June 20. Doctors had referred him on June 19 after his health condition deteriorated. Family members of the deceased said that they searched for the ventilator at 11 pm on May 15 but could not take him to the hospital as no ambulance was available.

The Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve has obstructed the Nepal Army from managing the corpses of those who died from Covid-19. The dead bodies were cremated at the bank of Koshi River in Dhankatta of Kanchanrup Municipality. Ward Chairman of Kanchanrup Municipality-4 Ram Narayan Sah said that the reserve office has obstructed the management of the corpses saying that it would affect the wild animals and birds in the reserve.

In Dhanusha, the provincial government has formed an oxygen gas monitoring management committee on May 18 under the leadership of the Minister for Internal Affairs and Law Gyanendra Yadav. The meeting has formed an expert group under the chairmanship of Dr. Ram Kewal Sah, Vice-Chancellor of Madhes Institute of Health Sciences, to monitor the government and private hospitals in the province where Covid-19 is being treated.

In Gandaki Province,

In Myagdi, a request has been made to fully comply with the health standards and not to crowd in Lomanthang rural municipality of Mustang till May 23. In Nawalparasi (Bardaghat Susta East), as the infection rate of COVID-19 is increasing, the district level COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre meeting and District Administration Office have extended the period of prohibition order from May 18 to May 28.

In Lumbini Province,

In Rupendehi, there are 6,243 people infected with covid in the district. Five more people have died in the district in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 367. The Butwal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Rupendehi, has handed over the necessary medical equipment for the establishment and operation of the ICU ward under the Covid Care Unit to be set up at Siddhartha Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Butwal. The hospital has been providing free treatment to the infected people.

In Bardiya, the number of deaths during treatment of infected people has increased after the start of the second wave of covid-19. Nineteen people had died before March 2021. As many as 65 people have died since the first week of May. The death toll from covid has reached 81 in the district. Badaiyatal rural municipality is most affected in eight local levels of the district. No one was killed in the first phase, and 16 have died so far in the second phase.

In Karnali Province,

In Surkhet, a meeting of the Karnali Council of Ministers held on May 18 has decided to rescue the infected people from a helicopter. The infected people of Dolpa, Humla and Mugu will be brought to Karnali Institute of Health Sciences Jumla and Karnali State Hospital Surkhet if they are not treated at the district headquarters, said Kurmaraj Shahi, spokesperson of the state government.

The Karnali Provincial Hospital, Surkhet, is going to provide the necessary materials for the management of the bodies of those who died from covid-19. Dr Dambar Khadka, director of the hospital, said that the hospital has decided to provide the corpse management materials to the relatives who died due to covid infection during the injunction. According to Director Khadka, the distribution of kerosene, scissors, rope, clothes and plastic to the relatives of the deceased has been started on May 18.

In Sudur Paschim Province,

In Kanchanpur, 18 oxygen concentrators have been installed at Mahakali Hospital in the district. Medical Superintendent of Mahakali Hospital, Dr. Hari Kumar Shrestha, said that oxygen concentrators sent by the Health Services Department have been connected to the hospital as there is a shortage of oxygen in the hospital. Dr. Shrestha said that the treatment of the infected people has been eased after the oxygen concentrator was connected as the patients were being treated at Mahakali Hospital by supplying oxygen from Nepalgunj and Dhangadhi.

In Darchula, the covid test has been affected due to a lack of antigen kit for testing as the rate of covid infection is increasing in the district. Public Health Officer Jayaraj Bhatta said that only 100 of the 950 kits provided by the Far-Western Provincial Government were available at the border checkpoints.

Similarly, the report of the PCR test conducted at most of the local levels of the district has not been received even after five days. Even after five days, 151 people from Mahakali Municipality, 144 people from Shailyashikhar Municipality, 100 people from Lekam Municipality, 59 people from Malikarjun Municipality, 51 people from Vyas Municipality, 90 people from Naugad Municipality, 90 people from Marma Municipality and 28 people from Duhu Village Municipality have been sent to Baitadi for PCR. Public Health Officer at the Health Office, Darchula, Jayaraj Bhatta said that the problem arose due to non-receipt of their report.

Online Desk