Nepal’s COVID-19 fatality tally surpasses grim 5,000-mark, nearly 2000 deaths added in past one month

KATHMANDU, May 17: On April 14 (Baishakh 1), when second wave of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) had started engulfing India, Nepal’s Health and Population Ministry (MoHP) reported 603 new cases through the 4,740 tests, meaning that positivity rate was 12.72 percent. The number of deaths recorded on that day was only 3. Total death number stood at 3,061. As many as 4,740 patients were staying isolated. Recovery rate was 97.47 percent, one of the highest records in South Asia. 

The second wave, as expected, started ravaging Nepal. Officials confirmed nearly 10,000 cases a day. On May 11, record-high daily case count of 9,483 and highest number of daily deaths (225) were confirmed. 

Since April 14, Nepal has added as many as 173,456 more cases. The number of active cases spiked to  110, 263on May 16 from 4,740 as of April 14.The most terrible thing is that nearly 2,000 people lost their lives in the past one month. 

Meanwhile, Nepal surpassed a grim milestone of 5,000 deaths on Sunday. The first death in the country was reported on May 16, 2020. 

According to the data released by the health ministry, 1,940 more fatalities were confirmed between April 14 and May 16. This number, however, could be higher as the ministry updates the data of dead bodies managed by the Nepal Army a little later. 

                             April 14                       May 16 

New cases             603                          7,368

Total Cases            281,1564                 455,020            

Positivity Rate        12.72%                 37.05%    

Recovery Rate        97.5%                   74.7%            

Active Cases         4,056                      110263    

New Deaths           3                         145

Total Deaths        3,061                      5,001