Nepal on Sunday reported the highest-single day surge of coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic in January last year. The country recorded 7,137 new cases in polymerase chain reaction tests and 74 antigen positives. With 27 new fatalities due to Covid-19-related complications, the death toll has reached 3,325.

The countrywide infection tally has reached 336,030, with the number of active cases at 48,711.

The highest number of daily cases prior to Sunday was recorded on October 21 last year when the country reported 5,743 Covid-19 infections in a single day.

A total of 16,147 PCR and 623 antigen tests were performed in the past 24 hours, according to the data released by the Health Ministry.

That means 44 percent of the total PCR tests returned positive results.

Experts say that the recent surge in coronavirus cases in the country is due to mobility among the working-age population.

Doctors say the mobile population, which makes up people aged 20-40, is responsible for the current spike in new cases.

With the degree of contagiousness of the new variants of the virus like the UK variant B.1.1.7 and the Indian variant B.1.617 higher, the young have also become the medium to transmit the infection to family members and in society.

Meanwhile, the second wave of the pandemic is showing a different trend. While youths and adults, aged between 20 and 40 years, have been infected the most, the virus has been detected in those under 19 as well.

In the past week, 3,427 individuals under 20 have tested positive for the virus. Of them, 823 were between the ages of 0-9 and 2,604 were aged 9-19.

The number has been on an increasing trend for the last few weeks. On Sunday, 623 children under 20 tested positive.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 283,994 infected people have recovered from the disease so far–1,612 of them in the last 24 hours.

Kathmandu Valley recorded 3,595 new infections in the past 24 hours. Of them, 2,744 cases were confirmed in Kathmandu, 550 in Lalitpur and 301 in Bhaktapur.

In the past 24 hours, 4,120 new infections were recorded in Bagmati Province, 152 in Gandaki, 1,249 in Lumbini, 437 in Province 1, 603 in Province 2, 351 in Sudurpaschim and 225 in Karnali province.

As of Sunday, 2,504,476 PCR tests have been carried out across the country.

Until Sunday, 477 individuals infected with the virus were being treated in intensive care units across the country. 131 others—77 in Bagmati, 21 in Lumbini, 14 in Province 1, nine in Sudurpaschim, seven in Karnali, two in Province 2 and one in Gandaki—were on ventilator support.

Nepal on Saturday had reported 19 Covid-19 related fatalities and 5,706 new cases. Similarly, 33 more Covid-19 related fatalities and 5,657 new cases were recorded on Friday and 35 Covid-19 related fatalities and 4,831 new cases were reported on Thursday.