Nepal: rise in coronavirus cases has similar trajectory to India driven by B117 and B1617

Asia, B.1.1.7, B.1.617, Coronavirus, Health, Infection, Nepal, Science, Transmission

Authorities in Nepal are grappling to contain the rapid rise of COVID-19 cases with experts fearing that thousands of people in the Himalayan state have caught the more infectious mutant strains emerging out of India.  Nepal, which shares a long porous border with India, reported 3,032 new infections on Sunday, the highest daily number recorded this year.

It took the total caseload since the pandemic first struck Nepal to 300,119 with 3,164 deaths so far, according to government data.

“We have detected the UK variant and the double mutant variant detected in India,” Krishna Prasad Paudel, the director of Nepal’s Epidemiology and Disease Control Department Paudel told Reuters news agency, adding that experts were checking for other variants too.

Aljazeera report

SEE UPDATE 01/05/2021:

Nepal: rise in coronavirus cases has similar trajectory to India driven by B117 and B1617

 

** This post was originally published on April 26, 2021 **