Kathmandu, May 17 : Nepal registered its first COVID-19 death after a 29-year-old woman died following breathing difficulty, the health ministry said on Saturday.
The woman from Bahrabise Municipality of Sindhupalchowk district who died on Thursday was confirmed as coronavirus positive during PCR test at the National Public Health Laboratory here, the ministry said in a statement.
“A detailed investigation and a series of tests show that this is the first death due to COVID-19 in the country, according to the statement issued by Dr Sameer Kumar Adhikari, deputy spokesperson for the Health Ministry.
The woman was admitted to the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital last week where she delivered a child next day. She was later discharged, as the health condition of both the baby and the mother was normal. The woman had subsequently returned to her village in Sindhupalchok.
She reported a fever and respiratory difficulties shortly after returning home and was treated at a local health centre. After her condition worsened, she was referred to the Dhulikhel Hospital, 100 km east of Kathmandu, on May 14. She died on the way to the hospital, according to the statement.
Citing a doctor at the Dhulikhel Hospital, The Kathmandu Post reported that the woman was pronounced dead upon arrival. But since she had fever and respiratory problems, which are symptoms of coronavirus, the hospital conducted a polymerase chain reaction test on her nasal and throat swabs, which came back positive.
The health ministry later conducted the test again at the National Public Health Laboratory, whose results were positive once.
As of Saturday night, 281 people tested positive for coronavirus in the country. So far, 26,691 tests have been conducted and there are 244 active cases while 36 have recovered in the country. One persons has died.
The highest number of patients are in provinces two and five with 109 patients each while province one has 36 patients. All the three provinces are close to India border.
The number of coronavirus patients in province three is 16 while in seven, there are five patients. No cases have been reported from province six so far.
(PTI)
