Sundar Maurya, a farmer from the south-western town of Narainapur, complained of breathing difficulties and tested positive on 3 May. Within days, his condition worsened.

Mr Maurya took his father, who is in his mid-50s, to three medical facilities in the Banke district but all refused him admission due to a shortage of beds and oxygen. By the time he managed to find a bed, it was too late.

"We are devastated, he was the main breadwinner of the family," Mr Maurya told the BBC. "Now I have to take care of my own family and three younger brothers. My mother has been crying inconsolably."

"If we don't manage this right now, the situation will become catastrophic," said Dr Samir Kumar Adhikari, the chief of the government's Health Emergency Operation Centre.

Read more at : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57055209