Kalpana Acharya\Kathmandu: Nepal today recorded highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases both outside and inside the Kathmandu Valley. This is the first time since the first corona virus case was detected in the country that over 2,000 cases have been recorded within 24 hours.

Fresh 2,020 COVID-19 cases were recorded across the country with 859 alone in the Kathmandu Valley, taking the total to 61,593. The death toll as of now mounted to 390.

Seven fatalities have been recorded within the last 24 hours, said Spokesperson of Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) Dr Jageshwor Gautam.

While the total number of active cases in the country stands at 17,383, a total of 43,820 people recovered from COVID-19. Kathmandu accounts for the highest number of infections among all 77 districts with 12,444.

MoHP data says 894,373 PCR tests have been carried out across the country as of now. While 7,736 people are staying in quarantine centers set up in various parts across the country, 9,295 people are in facility-based isolation and 8,088 people in home isolation. Still, 16,259 people are staying in isolation with 4,739 in quarantine.

The first COVID-19 case was detected in the country on 23 January this year when a 32-year old Nepali man returning from Wuhan, the Chinese city where the first case was discovered on 31 December 2019, tested positive.

COVID-19 was declared a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020 and a pandemic on 11 March.