Nepal reported its first coronavirus death late Saturday - a 29-year-old woman who recently gave birth - as the total number of people infected in the country reached 281.

The victim - who was from Sindhupalchowk district, some 90 kilometres (about 55 miles) from the capital Kathmandu - was on her way to a hospital for treatment when she died.

"It has been proven that is this the first case of death caused by COVID-19 in Nepal," the deputy spokesman for the health ministry, Samir Kumar Adhikari, said in a statement.

The woman gave birth at a hospital in Kathmandu on May 6 and then returned to her home district a day later. She was treated at a local hospital after suffering from fever and respiratory problems. When her condition worsened, she was referred to another hospital.