KATHMANDU: COVID -19, or widely termed as coronavirus, is spreading like an epidemic mainly in the countries of Asia, Europe and Africa.

With more than 87,000 cases and over 2,900 deaths worldwide, as of now, COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in more than 55 countries, including China.

Reports said over 87,000 people have been affected and more than 2,973 have died of coronavirus since the start of January this year.

Countries with at least one confirmed case include Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, France, the United States, Malaysia, Australia, Germany, Nepal, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates, Canada, India, Finland, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Russia, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Egypt, Belgium, Israel, Iran, Oman, Lebanon, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Austria, Croatia, Switzerland, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Denmark, Brazil, Romania, Estonia, Nigeria, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Mexico, New Zealand, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Greece, Georgia, Monaco, Lithuania, San Marino and Norway.

Most of the COVID-19 cases have been seen in China. Of late, the number of new cases in China is coming down as new cases in the rest of the world accelerate its increase.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak a global public health emergency. It said earlier this week that the risk of coronavirus expanding worldwide is ‘very high’.

The Chinese government, meanwhile, has warned officials not to cover up the spread of the coronavirus.

Health officials are working worldwide to contain the cases caused by the new coronavirus that originated in China.

Meanwhile, the Chinese authorities reported on Sunday 35 new deaths and more than 570 new cases of coronavirus.

Similarly, Washington state health authorities said a person died of COVID-19 — the first reported coronavirus death in the US.

In Nepal, the Ministry of Health and Population has deputed a medical doctor to the country’s only international airport, Tribhuvan International Airport health desk.

The ministry has also sought the necessary help of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Department of Immigration (DoI) to run the heath desk smoothly.

However, Nepal is yet to fully equip the TIA health desk.

According to Dr Bibek Kumar Lal, director at the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, a thermal scanner to check the body temperature of passengers has been installed.

Health desk coordinator at the TIA, the desk has been conducting health tests against the people coming from China, Thailand, Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong. Interestingly, the check-up at the airport merely involves the fever checkup.