Nepal records first coronavirus-related death

Nepal recorded its first coronavirus-related death, the country’s health ministry said late Saturday.

The victim was a 29-year-old woman from a district bordering the capital, Kathmandu, the ministry said in a statement.

Nepal has been under a nationwide lockdown since March 24, with borders to both India and China sealed. So far, 291 coronavirus cases have been reported in the country, according to Johns Hopkins University’s tally.

The  victim — who was from Sindhupalchowk district, some 90 kilometres (about 55 miles) from the capital Kathmandu — was on her way to a hospital for treatment when she died.

“It has been proven that is this the first case of death caused by COVID-19 in Nepal,” the deputy spokesman for the health ministry, Samir Kumar Adhikari, said in a statement.

The woman gave birth at a hospital in Kathmandu on May 6 and then returned to her home district a day later.

She was treated at a local hospital after suffering from fever and respiratory problems. When her condition worsened, she was referred to another hospital.

Her newborn and other family members will be tested to see if they have contracted the virus, local media reported.

Via Reuters/The Kathmandu Post