KATHMANDU: As many as 354 persons in Kathmandu Valley have been infected with COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.

Speaking at the regular press briefing on Sunday, Dr. Jageshwor Gautam, Spokesperson at the Ministry of Health and Population, stated that 290 persons in Kathmandu, 32 in Bhaktapur and 32 in Lalitpur have tested positive for the pandemic virus.

Meanwhile, the country saw as many as 980 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, and 1,814 infected persons returned home after recovery during the same period, the Ministry of Health and Population said.

Currently, there are 17,027 active cases of coronavirus across the country. Among them, 9,201 are in institutional isolation and 7,826 in home isolation.

In the last 24 hours, 9 persons died due to coronavirus.

COVID-19 spreads to community level in Kathmandu Valley

The percentage of positive rate (PPR) for the last seven days has been calculated on Thursday and the average in the Valley is around 11.70 while the national average is 8.7.

According to public health experts, a PPR above 5 indicates that the infection is widespread at the community level or that the scope of testing is not wide.

After the relaxation of July 21, the number of infected people doubled to 82.5. This means that the number of infected people is expected to double in about 82 days.

However, leaving that mathematical estimate far behind, the number of infected doubled in about 40 days.

According to a report published on the international website Statista.com on August 31, it took 34 days for the number of infected people in Nepal to double.

According to the same report, the number of infected people in the world seems to have doubled in 50 days.

Analyzing the data as of August 30, it may take about 26 days for the number of infected people to double. Despite the ban in most of the infected districts, the number of infections has  decreased.

The most frightening aspect of these situations is death. According to another report published on Statista.com on August 31, the number of deaths due to coronavirus in Nepal has doubled in just 14 days.

Nepal ranks ninth in terms of risk of coronavirus. The average number of deaths in the world has doubled in 79 days. The death toll in China, which was the first to be infected with the coronavirus, took 190 days to double, the report said.

With a higher PPR of 11 in the Valley and an average of PPR 9 in the country, the community can be considered infected.