Nepal says 90 pc of its coronavirus cases are foreign returnees, mostly from India

Nepal on Sunday claimed that 90 per cent of its coronavirus cases are migrant workers who returned from abroad, mostly from India, as the country's tally inched closer to the 10,000-mark with 421 new cases.

The virus has now spread to 75 of the total 77 districts in the country, the Health Ministry said.

The confirmation of 421 new cases pushed Nepal’s coronavirus infection tally to 9,026.

Dr Basudev Pandey, director at Department of Epidemiology, Ministry of Health said 90 per cent of Nepal's coronavirus cases are migrant workers, who returned from abroad, mostly from India, and 98 per cent of the infected people did not show any symptom.

Of the 421 new cases, 64 are female while 357 are male, the Health Ministry said at its daily media briefing.

The death toll due to COVID-19 on Sunday increased to 23 following the death of a 69-year old paralysis patient, who recently returned from India after treatment, said the Health Ministry spokesperson.

On Sunday, 194 recoveries were reported, eight of them females and 186 males. With this total recovery cases have reached 1,772, of which 149 are females and 1623 males.

Currently, 7,231 coronavirus active patients are currently undergoing treatment at different hospitals across the country.