KATHMANDU, Oct 10 (NNN-NEPALNEWS) – COVID-19 cases in Nepal surpassed 100,000 mark on Friday, Nepal’s Ministry of Health and Population said.
“With new 2,059 cases, COVID-19 cases in the country reached 100,676,” said Jageshwor Gautam, spokesperson at the health ministry.
“People’s movement massively increased after both private and public transportation was opened in recent weeks,” Basudev Pandey, director at Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, under the Department of Health Services, an agency under Nepal’s health ministry, said.
In recent weeks, Kathmandu Valley emerged as a new hotspot of the virus and the valley has been the biggest contributor for massive rise in the case tally. Out of the national new cases of 2,059, as many as 1,409 cases were reported in the Valley.
“After lockdown was lifted on July 22, the inflow of people to Kathmandu from previous hotspots increased and the lack of proper checking and monitoring, the virus spread in the communities in Kathmandu,” said Pandey.
As of Friday, the number of active cases has reached 27,053.
The Nepali government appealed to people having asymptomatic cases and those with mild symptoms to stay at home, so that seriously ill patients could get beds easily.
According to Pandey, government-run hospitals, which are basically dealing with COVID-19 cases, are running out of ICU beds.
“We can address the shortage of ICU beds by using health facilities in private hospitals to a large extent,” said Pandey.– NNN-NEPALNEWS
