MoHP records 559 new cases including 13 new cases of fatality in the past 24 hours
KATHMANDU, April 12: Nepal has been witnessing a sharp rise in the number of new COVID-19 cases in recent days. However, the government has been unable to identify the variant of the new virus.
According to Dr Krishna Poudel, the director of the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division at the MoHP, the new variant of COVID-19 is rapidly spreading among people in Nepal. “We have already detected this new variant of COVID-19 in more than 200 people in Nepal,” he said.
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“It has been confirmed that the new variant of COVID-19 has been detected in Nepal but we have been unable to identify yet as to which variant it is due to lack of necessary technology and manpower,” Poudel added.
Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu University and National Public Health Laboratory are making necessary arrangements to carry out the tests to identify new variants of the COVID-19 soon, according to Dr Poudel.
According to Rajesh Gupta, Information Officer at National Public Health Laboratory, the government is procuring a gene sequencing machine soon. “We will be able to conduct gene sequencing in Nepal within a week once the machine is installed,” he said.
Nepal is currently sending the samples to Hongkong for gene sequencing.
Meanwhile, Nepal recorded 559 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, according to the MoHP.
The MoHP also recorded 13 new cases of fatality related to COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. Of them, eight breathed their last in the past 24 hours.
