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. 2020 Aug 11:7:524.
doi: 10.3389/fmed.2020.00524. eCollection 2020.

Early Epidemiological Features of COVID-19 in Nepal and Public Health Response

Santosh Dhakal  1 , Surendra Karki  2
Affiliations

Early Epidemiological Features of COVID-19 in Nepal and Public Health Response

Santosh Dhakal et al. Front Med (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was first reported in late 2019 from Wuhan, China. Considering COVID-19's alarming levels of spread and severity, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. The first case of COVID-19 in Nepal was reported on January 23, 2020. The Government of Nepal implemented different public health measures to contain COVID-19, including border closures and a countrywide lockdown. We collected the daily data provided by the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) of the Government of Nepal and illustrated the early epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 in Nepal. By May 31, 2020, 1,572 cases and eight deaths were reported in Nepal associated with COVID-19. The estimate of prevalence for COVID-19 among tested populations was 2.25% (95% CI: 2.15-2.37%) and case-fatality rate was 0.5%. The majority of the cases were young males (n = 1,454, 92%), with overall average age being 30.5 years (ranging from 2 months to 81 years) and were mostly asymptomatic. There were only five cases from three districts until the end of March, but cases surged from April and spread to 57 out of 77 districts of Nepal by the end of May 2020 despite the continuous lockdown. Most of these cases are from the southern plains of Nepal, bordering India. As the effect of COVID-19 is expected to persist longer, the Government of Nepal should make appropriate strategies for loosening lockdowns in a phase-wise manner while maintaining social distancing and personal hygiene and increasing its testing, tracking, and medical capacity.

Keywords: Nepal; coronavirus disease 2019; epidemiology; public health response; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Epidemic curve of COVID-19 cases in Nepal.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cumulative and daily RT-PCR testing for COVID-19 diagnosis in Nepal.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Age and gender-wise distribution of COVID-19 cases in Nepal.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Spatial distribution of COVD-19 cases in Nepal.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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