COVID-19 spreads to 13 districts of State-1, two more PCR labs in the offing

KATHMANDU, June 20: Coronavirus has spread to 13 out of 14 districts in State-1. According to COVID-19 information desk of the State-1 government, no patients of COVID-19 have been witnessed in Okhaldhunga district till Friday night.
Desk member and press advisor to Chief Minister informed that State-1 has confirmed 422 persons contracting the virus- 392 males and 30 females.
The top four tallies of the pandemic are from eastern Terai districts- Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari and Udayapur with respective cases of 177, 108, 61 and 45. Rest of the districts have single digit patient -eight from Dhankuta and six from Bhojpur.
There are four each from Khotang and Taplejung, while three in Panchthar. Likewise, two each from Sankhuwasabha and Ilam as well as one each from Solukhumbu and Terhathum districts are proven pandemic patients.
According to the information desk, 234 people are discharged after recovery in the State. They were treated at Biratnagar-based COVID-19 Hospital and Dharan-based BP Koirala Institute of Health and Sciences.
Meanwhile, Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning, Indra Angbo, has said two Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing laboratories are in the offing in Jhapa. Speaking at the State Assembly on Friday afternoon, Angbo said Mechi Hospital would be equipped with PCR testing laboratory in near future. He also said additional PCR laboratory was being set up in and around Damak, Jhapa.
Chief Minister Sherdhan Rai said the State government was preparing to carry two thousand PCR tests on the daily basis.
Currently, State-1 has three PCR laboratories- one each in Dharan’s BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, and Biratnagar’s Koshi Hospital, and Avian Disease Investigation Laboratory. (RSS)