Newborn, family members of a woman who died of COVID-19 tested negative for the virus

KATHMANDU, May 18: The newborn child and the family members of a woman who died of COVID-19 have tested negative.

The 29-year-old newly mother of Barhabise municipality-9, Ramche in Sindhupalchowk district died on Thursday—Nepal’s first fatality—on the way to the Dhulikhel Hospital. She was tested positive for the virus. The death toll from the virus has reached two, while 304 are infected.

Swabs of the deceased’s 13-day-old newborn, her husband, mother and sister were tested through PCR tests, said Chief of the District Health Office, Dr Narendra Jha.

They were kept in isolation after collecting their swabs on Saturday, he said.

Preparations were underway to quarantine them for 14 days in coordination with the district administration office, he said.

Doctors and health workers and staff who attended to the deceased have been quarantined after collecting their swabs, said the hospital’s spokesperson Dr Suman Raj Tamrakar.

The hospital has been put on high alert following the findings of the death of the woman from the virus, he said.

Meanwhile, NC central member and former Minister for Information and Communications Mohan Bahadur Basnet has announced financial assistance worth Rs 50,000 to the care of the newborn of the woman who died on Thursday from COVID-19.

The amount would be handed to the child’s father after he finishes his stay in quarantine, he said.

He also pledged his initiatives to help manage financial assistance for the education and job security of the child.