KATHMANDU, June 18 (Xinhua) -- The Nepali government reported two new deaths and record high new COVID-19 cases in a single day on Thursday as the Himalayan country is seeing rapid rise in both deaths and cases in recent days.

With the new deaths, the death toll in Nepal reached 22, according to the Ministry of Health and Population. "A 46-year-old man and a 43-year-old woman from far-western Kailali district died due to COVID-19," spokesperson at Nepal's Health Ministry Jageshwor Gautam told a press briefing.

According to Gautam, the man who tested positive for the novel coronavirus on June 14 died on Wednesday fighting the virus. "On the other hand, the woman who was admitted to the local hospital after head injury died on June 16 but her swab was also tested positive a day after her death," said Gautam.

Meanwhile, with 671 new cases in the last 24 hours, the number of total COVID-19 cases in Nepal reached 7,848, according to the ministry.

It is the second consecutive day that the Himalayan country reported a record high single day spike in the cases. It is also the first time that that number of cases in a single day crossed 600. On Wednesday Nepal reported 586 new cases.

Nepal has seen a rapid rise in the cases since May. After the Nepali government relaxed lockdown on June 10 allowing operation of most of the economic activities, the country has recorded 3,484 new cases, which is 44 percent of total cases.

As per the Health Sector Emergency Response Plan against COVID-19, Nepal is currently in the third stage of COVID-19 infections where 5,000-10,000 cases are expected.

Despite the recent surge in the number of cases, Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said on Thursday that the number of cases in Nepal has remained still low compared to many other countries. "There has not been large scale community transmission in Nepal yet," he said while responding to lawmakers of the National Assembly.