By Ajita Rijal
Kathmandu, May 2 : Nepal’s COVID- 19 daily caseload has been continuously increasing with the onset of the second wave of the virus. On Saturday, the country recorded 5,763 new cases and 19 deaths.
The Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) on Saturday added 19 more COVID-19 related fatalities in its update, of which 7 were recorded in Banke in the last 24 hours. With this, the nation’s COVID-19 death toll has climbed to 3,298 and the death rate is 1.02 per cent.
The MoHP also recorded 5,763 new cases of which 57 are antigen positives.
The overall national infection tally has reached 328,893 with 43,213 active cases. According to the MoHP, 282,382 infected people have recovered from the disease with 1,287 of them recovered in the past 24 hours.
2,495 infected in Kathmandu Valley
Kathmandu Valley recorded 2,495 new infections in the past 24 hours. Of them, 1,932 cases were confirmed in Kathmandu, 355 in Lalitpur and 208 in Bhaktapur.
In the past 24 hours, 3,022 new infections were recorded in Bagmati Province, 418 in Gandaki, 1,430 in Lumbini, 180 in Province 1, 282 in Province 2, 219 in Sudurpaschim and 155 in Karnali province.
A total of 14,403 PCR and 566 antigen tests were performed in the past 24 hours, according to the data released by the MoHP.
7 fatalities in Banke
According to Our Nepalgunj Correspondent, Banke recorded seven COVID-19 fatalities on Saturday.
Among the fatalities, five were recorded from Medical College and two were from Bheri Hospital, according to Tej Oli, focal person at District COVID Crisis Management Centre, Banke.
With this, 235 COVID -19 patients have died so far in various hospitals in Banke, said Oli. In the meantime, the number of infected people is also increasing in Banke.
According to Banke Hospital, on Saturday, 253 people were found to be infected with COVID-19 through PCR tests. Among the infected people, 204 were from Banke district.
Leader Khanal admitted to hospital
Meanwhile, former Prime Minister and Leader of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal has been admitted to Norvic Hospital after testing positive for COVID-19.
High court directs for free
test, treatment of virus
According to our Nepalgunj correspondent, the High Court of Tulsipur, Nepalgunj has ordered the government to conduct PCR test and treatment of COVID-19 free of cost.
The verdict was delivered by the court to provide free test and treatment of COVID-19 following the test directives and treatment protocols issued by the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), said Advocate Basanta Gautam.
The verdict was delivered by a bench of justices Dr. Ratna Bahadur Bagchand and Gokarna Dangi in response to a writ petition filed by advocates.
Advocates including, Basanta Gauta, Sunil Kumar Shrestha, Lok Bahadur Shah, Bishwojit Tiwari, Pravakar Bhaattarai and Chief of INSEC Lumbini Bhola were among the petitioners.
The petitioners had argued that all citizens had the right to seek emergency services free of cost as per Section 3 (4) of the Public Health Service Act.

CCMC decides to open only 13

border points with India
A meeting of the COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre (CCMC) held on Friday had recommended closure of different points of Nepal-India border in the wake of massive spread of COVID-19.
The meeting presided over by CCMC Coordinator and Deputy Prime Minister Ishwar Pokhrel had also offered further recommendations for the control of the virus as the second wave of COVID-19 was rising.
The entry points from where Nepalis can enter are Kakarvitta, Jogbani, Pashupatinagar, Bhittamod, Gaur, Birgunj, Belahiya, Krishnanagar, Jamunah, Jhulaghat, Kolughat, Gauriphanta and Gaddachauki.
The meeting has also decided to run government offices and banks and financial institutions with only one-fourth of their total strength, halt all the private construction works and people working at the public construction sites and factories should be lodged within their respective sites.
The recommendations given by the CCMC would be discussed in the Council of Ministers meeting. The CCMC meeting also reviewed the ongoing prohibitory order issued in different districts, and supplies of essential goods and services.