Professor Dr. Jageshwor Gautam, the spokesperson the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), confirmed 597 new cases of COVID-19 in the Kathmandu Valley.

He said that in 9,165 Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests done in the last 24 hours, as many as 597 persons, 216 females and 381 males, were found with the novel coronavirus infection in the Valley itself.

Of the 597 new cases, 483 cases including 178 females and 305 males, were detected in Kathmandu, 81 cases including 22 females and 59 males, were detected in Bhaktapur and 33 cases, including 16 females and 17 males were detected in Lalitpur.

Moreover, some 1,039 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded across the nation on Saturday, taking the national tally to 54,159 including 38,697 cases of recovery and 345 death cases.

He said that 1,173 COVID-19 patients receiving treatment at various health facilities across the nation were discharged in the last 24 hours after recovering from the virus infection. The recovery rate now stands at 71.5 per cent.

Currently, there are 15, 117 active cases of COVID-19 of which, 7,730 patients are in institutional isolation and 7,387 are in home isolation. Some 6,536 people are placed in quarantine across the nation. There are nine deaths.

Of the active patients, 169 are admitted to the ICU and 23 are receiving treatment with the ventilator facility.

With this, the national COVID-19 tally has reached 54,159 including 38,697 cases of recovery and 345 death cases.