Nepal confirmed its 20th Covid-19 death and reported 586 new cases, the highest daily record, on Wednesday as the national tally reached 7,177.

Health Ministry spokesperson Dr Jageshwor Gautam, during a regular press briefing, said a 46-year-old woman from Baijanath Rural Municipality-6 in Banke district died of the disease on Monday.

“She was admitted to Nepalgunj Medical College Teaching Hospital in Kohalpur with kidney ailment on June 12. Her swab samples were collected on June 15 and were sent to the laboratory at Bheri Hospital for testing. She died later on the day at 6 pm. Her swab results on Tuesday came positive for Covid-19,” said Dr Gautam.

The Ministry also confirmed a record 586 cases in the last 24 hours.

“Samples from 200 individuals from Mahottari, 127 from Rautahat, 38 from Pyuthan, 31 from Bardiya, 26 from Gulmi, 25 from Salyan, 22 from Dhanusha, 17 from Nawalparasi (East), 14 from Kalikot, 12 from Argakhanchi and 10 from Kapilvastu tested positive for the virus,” said Dr Gautam.

“Nine people from Morang, eight from Dang, seven each from Bara, Rupandehi and Kanchanpur, six from Sarlahi and four each from Udayapur and Dhanusha, three from Parbat, two each from Jhapa, Surkhet and Dailekh and one each from Siraha, Kailali and Banke also tested positive,” he added.

On Tuesday, there were 380 confirmed cases while on Monday451 tested positive for the virus. Nepal’s 19th death and 425 news cases were confirmed on Sunday. On Saturday, the country reported two Covid-19 deaths and 273 new cases.

According to the ministry, the virus has spread to 73 districts. Manang, Mustang, Okhaldhunga and Rasuwa have not reported any cases so far.

“So far, 149,772 polymerase chain reaction tests and 233,543 rapid diagnostic tests have been carried out across the country,” said Gautam.

According to Gautam, 1,167 people, nine of them in the last 24 hours, have been discharged from various hospitals after recovering.

Track all Covid-19 cases in Nepal here.