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For a third consecutive day, Nepal's single day Covid-19 cases and deaths have surged to record high levels amid an ongoing second wave of the pandemic in the country.
As per the data released by the Ministry of Health and Population on Wednesday, a total of 58 people died and 8,659 people were infected with the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, Xinhua news agency reported. This was the first time that the country's daily cases surpassed 8,000. Nepal reported over 7,000 daily cases on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday's figures have increased the overall caseload and death toll to 359,610 and 3,475, respectively. The Himalayan country, which had seen less than 100 daily cases on most days in March, started to witnsess a rapid rise since April. "Now, due to rapid rise in the cases, the hospitals are being overwhelmed by surging caseloads," said Jageshwor Gautam, spokesperson at the Health Ministry at a press meet on Wednesday. "Most hospitals are taking patients exceeding their available beds and ventilators." The cases surged by over 127 per cent this week compared to last week, according to the Ministry. "Lumbini, one of the seven provinces, saw a rise in cases by 384 per cent this week compared to last week," said Archana Shrestha, associate professor at the public health department of the Kathmandu University at the press meet. The province lies in the southwestern region of the country and borders India, which is also badly affected by the second wave of the pandemic. According to Dr. Shrestha, Nepal is still in an early stage of infections from the second wave. "Nepal has witnessed one-third of potential infections so far and two-thirds of infections are yet to take place," she said. The Health Ministry has projected 11,000 infections in a single day in the worst-case scenario. Amid the resurgence, prohibitory orders have been issued in 50 out of 77 districts. --IANS ksk/ ( 332 Words) 2021-05-06-08:34:01 (IANS)
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