Nepal reports its first coronavirus death

Nepal’s health authorities confirmed the country’s first death from coronavirus on Saturday.

A detailed investigation and a series of tests confirmed that this is the first death due to COVID-19 in the country.
Nepal ministry

The 29-year-old woman died while being taken to a hospital on the outskirt of Kathmandu, Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population said in a statement.

She was a resident of Sindhupalchwok, a district in the country's central region.

"A detailed investigation and a series of tests confirmed that this is the first death due to COVID-19 in the country," the ministry said, reports Xinhua.

The woman, who gave birth to a child on 6 May at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, was discharged on 7 May. She had a fever and respiratory problem after returning home and was undergoing treatment at a local hospital.

"After her situation (got) complicated, she was being brought to Dhulikhel hospital on May 14 but she died on the way," Sameer Kumar Adhikari, joint spokesperson at the ministry told Xinhua.

"After the death, she was tested for COVID-19 at the Dhulikhel hospital and the National Public Health Laboratory in Kathmandu and the results showed she was suffering from COVID-19."

The local administration is locking down her village and conducting contact tracing.

Sushila Pakhrin, deputy mayor at Barhabise Municipality told Xinhua that the woman's family members, including her child, were put into quarantine at the Dhulikhel hospital.

Nepal has so far 281 confirmed cases, according to the ministry.