KATHMANDU 16 July : Nepal’s total coronavirus infection count has reached 17,344 with 167 new cases detected today, stated the Ministry of Health and Population.

The new infections were confirmed on testing 4,981 specimens through PCR method across the country, in the last 24 hours, said Spokesperson Dr Jageshwar Gautam, in the ministry’s regular press briefing. So far, 303,810 PCR tests have been carried out in Nepal.

The ministry claimed that while over 10,000 tests can be conducted in a day, the number of daily tests have been brought down as the number of infections have decreased by a huge margin. Dr Gautam further stated that the number of cases have come down as only three of over 3,000 samples recently tested in KTM came out positive.

“The decline may be attributed to the decreasing number of people entering the country from abroad, emptying quarantine centres, and also because recovery cases have gone up.”

According to Health ministry, of the total recoveries, 744 have been reported from Province 1; 2,538 from Province 2; 406 from Bagmati Province 3; 935 from Gandaki Province; 3,537 from Province 5; 1,479 from Karnali Province; and 1,610 from Sudurpaschim Province.

As of today, there are 6,056 active cases of infection across the country. Of this, there are 67 active cases of infection in Province 1; 1,915 active cases in Province 2; 428 cases in Bagmati Province; 385 cases in Gandaki Province; 558 cases in Province 5; 319 cases in Karnali Province; and 2,384 cases in Sudurpaschim Province.

Meanwhile, 23,500 people are under quarantine throughout the country.

At present, five districts have no active cases of coronavirus infection. They are Bhojpur, Sankhuwasabha, Manang, Mustang, and Humla. Likewise, five districts — Mahottari, Rautahat, Palpa, Kailali, and Bajura — have over 500 active cases of infection.

No COVID-19 fatality was reported today. Death-toll from the coronavirus infection stands at 39.