Health workers carry the body of a COVID-19 victim at an electric crematorium in Kathmandu, Nepal, on May 16, 2020. The Nepali government on Saturday confirmed the first death from the COVID-19. In a statement, Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population said a 29-year-old woman from Sindhupalchwok, a district in the country's central region, died while being brought to a hospital on the outskirts of capital Kathmandu. (Photo by Sulav Shrestha/Xinhua)

The Nepali government on Saturday confirmed the first death from the COVID-19.

In a statement, Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population said a 29-year-old woman from Sindhupalchwok, a district in the country's central region, died while being brought to a hospital in the outskirt of the capital city Kathmandu.

"A detailed investigation and a series of tests confirmed that this is the first death due to COVID-19 in the country," read the statement of the ministry.

The woman, who gave birth of a child on May 6 at the Kathmandu-based Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, was discharged from the hospital on May 7 after a normal delivery.

After returning home at the Barhabise Municipality in Sidhupalchwok, she developed a fever and respiratory problem and was undergoing treatment at a local hospital.

"After her situation (got) complicated, she was brought to Dhulikhel hospital on May 14 but she died on the way," Sameer Kumar Adhikari, joint spokesperson at the ministry told Xinhua on Saturday evening.

"After the death, she was tested for COVID-19 at the Dhulikhel hospital and the National Public Health Laboratory in Kathmandu and the results showed she was suffering from COVID-19."

According to the District Administration Office of Sindhupalchwok, a meeting of the District COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre has decided to seal her village and the village where her parents live.

The meeting also decided to conduct tracing of the people who were in contact with the woman and put them in quarantine, the office said in a statement posted on its website.

Sushila Pakhrin, deputy mayor at Barshabise Municipality told Xinhua on Saturday that the woman's family members including her child were put into quarantine at the Dhulikhel hospital. They were in normal condition as of Saturday.

Meanwhile, Adhikari also confirmed that two Nepal Army personnel contracted the COVID-19 virus.

Nepal has so far 281 confirmed cases, according to the ministry.