KATHMANDU: Nine new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed by the Ministry of Health and Population on Monday morning, taking the total number of recorded cases to 304. Of the infected, eight people -- seven males, their ages ranging from 21-30 years, and a 28-year-old female -- are from Rautahat while another male, 38, is from Bara. The 38-year-old male from Bara district, who tested positive for the virus, has been known to be a journalist from Karaiyamai Rural Municipality-5 in Bara district and working in district headquarters Kalaiya, according THT's regional correspondent Puspa Raj Khatiwada. It has been learnt that the infected person had participated in a panchayat held at the ward office, last Saturday. Earlier, a 25-year-old male journalist of Triyuga Municipality in Udayapur district and two other journalists from Parsa were detected with COVID-19 infection. So far, two people have succumbed to the disease in Nepal. A 25-year-old man from Banke passed away on Sunday while the first case, that of a 29-year-old new mother from Sindhupalchok, was reported on Saturday.