By Ishwor Chandra Jha, Kathmandu, July 15: Three out of seven States namely the State 2, 5 and Sudurpaschim State are heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

These three States consist of 75 per cent of the total infected patients in the country.

Of the total 293,739 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests performed till now, 17,069 have tested positive for the virus out of which, 12,440 are from States 2, 5 and Sudurpaschim State.

Meanwhile, in Bagmati State, as many as 400 COVID-19 news cases have been detected in the span of last two weeks, where, more than half are from Kathmandu Valley.

According to a data revealed by the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), States 2, 5 and Sudurpaschim State, especially the regions sharing border with India, are mostly affected by COVID-19.

State 2 has recorded the highest infection rate of 4,392 COVID-19 cases. Of the total, 2,489 have recovered from the virus infection while 1,919 are receiving treatment in various health facilities.

With the arrival of people from foreign countries, the infection rate is on the rise.

In the meanwhile, State 1, although Kakadvitta and Jogbani shares border with India, has recorded the least cases of COVID-19. Till now, as many as 775 people have tested positive for the virus in State-1, out of which, 604 have returned home and only 171 are receiving treatment in isolation.

In State 2, the infection rate stands at 25 per cent in all tested samples.

So far, 16,579 swab samples of State 2 have been tested in National Public Health Laboratory, Kathmandu, Rajbiraj, Birgunj and Janakpur.

In Sudurpaschim State, the COVID-19 caseload has reached 3,953 out of which, 2,538 are active cases. The state holds the highest rate of active cases and 1,418 have recovered from the virus infection.

While in State 5, as many as 4,092 people have tested positive out of which, only 753 are receiving treatment in isolation.

The infection rate in Karnali State is slowly decreasing. Up to now, 1,371 out of 1,747 COVID-19 patients have returned home after recovery.

The Gandaki State holds only 771 active cases out of total 1,278 cases.

State 5 records the highest number of death. It has recorded 10 COVID-19 deaths until now. Similarly, Bagmati State has recorded nine COVID-19 deaths, Sudurpaschim 6, and 4 death cases each have been recorded in Karnali State and State 2.

Dr Basudev Pandey, Chief of Epidemiology and Disease Control Division under the MoHP, said that the COVID-19 spread heavily depended on effective management of those who enter the country.