Kathmandu, Sep 4 (IANS): Nepal has reported 1,228 nw coronavirus cases, the highest single-day spike as the pandemic was raging in the Himalayan country.

With the new cases, the national infection tally reached 42,877, according to the Ministry of Health and Population, reports Xinhua news agency.

The active cases stood at 18,413.

"A total of 1,228 cases were identified in the last 24 hours," Jageshwor Gautam, spokesman at the Ministry, said at a press meet on Thursday.

The previous single-day high was on August 30 with 1,221 new cases.

Although Nepal had been witnessing sharp decline in Covid-19 cases since July 3, the cases started to surge once again after the government ended the lockdown on July 22, allowing almost all economic and social activities to resume.

While the cases were mostly confined among the Nepali migrant workers, who had returned home from abroad, particularly from India before the lockdown was lifted, the cases are now spreading to several community clusters, according to Ministry.

Suresh Tiwari, a senior official at Ministry, said that around 96 per cent of the cases were now locally transmitted, a reversal of a trend observed until July.

Over 70 per cent cases have been concentrated in just 12 districts suggesting the community transmission.

The capital Kathmandu has emerged as a new hotspot of the pandemic with over one third of the total cases reported on Thursday.

As many as 445 cases were identified in the Kathmandu Valley in the last 24 hours, according to the Ministry. So far, there are 7,038 cases reported in the Kathmandu Valley.

Government officials have been repeatedly warning against the crowding.

But, on Thursday, defying the prohibitory orders, the Machhindranath Jatra was organized in Kathmandu Valley, which led to clashes between police and the locals.

Meanwhile, six new Covid-19 fatalities were reported, which took the total death toll to 257.