Nepali Government on Saturday confirmed the death of a second child from COVID-19 in addition to the death of another man, with the total death toll in the Himalayan country from the pandemic reaching 18.
“A five-year-old boy from Nijgadh town of south-eastern Bara district died due to COVID-19 while undergoing treatment at Birgunj Health Care Hospital in neighbouring Parsa district on Friday,’’ Jageshwor Gautam, spokesperson at the Ministry of Health and Population said in a regular press briefing on Saturday.
The boy, who tested positive for COVID-19 with a rapid test kit, was brought to the hospital on Friday after suffering from high fever and respiratory problems, according to the ministry.
He was taken to the isolation ward of the hospital and his swab was collected for testing with Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method.
“But, before the result of the PCR test arrived, the child died,’’ said Gautam.
Earlier on May 31, the Nepali government confirmed the death of a two-year-old girl from COVID-19, in the first-ever case of death of a child from the pandemic.
Gautam also confirmed the death of a man with an estimated age of 25 years old in Birgunj town of Parsa district.
The man was found dead in the town on June 10 and during the post-mortem at a local Narayani Hospital, his swab was also collected and tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, Gautam said.
Meanwhile, Nepal’s Health Ministry said the number of total COVID-19 cases in Nepal reached 5,335 with 273 new cases on Saturday.
Nepal has seen a rapid rise in the deaths and COVID-19 cases in recent days.
But the Nepali government on Wednesday decided to relax the ongoing lockdown to resume most economic activities by following certain health protocols.
