By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, July 8: With 2,077 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed on Wednesday, the nation's novel coronavirus tally has reached 650,162. In 7,835 Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests done in the past 24 hours, a total of 2,077 persons were found infected with SARS-CoV-2, informed Dr. Krishna Prasad Poudel, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) in the regular press briefing.
Likewise, 4,063 antigen tests performed in the last 24 hours showed 902 people were infected with the virus.
Of the new infections, 543 were detected in the Kathmandu Valley including 390 in Kathmandu, 86 in Lalitpur, and 67 in Bhaktapur.
A total of nine districts including Kaski, Chitwan, Makwanpur, Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur have more than 500 active cases of COVID-19. The positivity rate is the highest in Karnali Province, followed by Gandaki Province and Province 1.
Currently, there are 26,544 active cases of COVID-19, of which 2,788 are admitted to various institutional isolations while the remaining patients are placed in home isolation. Of the active patients, 571 are admitted to the ICU and 161 are under treatment with the ventilator facility. The number of active cases is higher in people aged between 20 to 60 years. Some 320 people are currently placed in various quarantine centres set up across the nation.
Meanwhile, 1,333 COVID-19 patients receiving treatment in institutional isolation or staying in home isolation recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours. Nepal has now recorded 614,327 cases of recoveries.
The MoHP on Wednesday added 28 fatalities to the nation's COVID-19 death toll, taking the death toll to 9,291.
Moreover, it has been confirmed that Nepal is receiving AstraZeneca vaccines against COVID-19 under the COVAX facility by this July. However, the exact date of arrival and the number of vaccines has not been fixed yet.
COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access, abbreviated as COVAX, is a worldwide initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines directed by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and the World Health Organization.
According to Dr. Taranath Pokhrel, director of the Family Welfare Division, the COVAX facility has notified that the delivery of AstraZeneca vaccines will be made by this July. However, the exact date of delivery and the time of arrival is yet to be fixed, he added.
Dr. Pokhrel said, “Nepal has appealed for 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines, but the COVAX facility is likely to deliver from 350,000 to 1.5 million doses by this July.”