Kathmandu, May 18

Eighty people tested positive for coronavirus today, taking the number of COVID-19 cases in Nepal to 375.

Out of 80 people who tested positive for the novel coronavirus, 59, including at least one woman, are from Banke district. At least 47 of them are from Narainapur Rural Municipality of the district. Earlier, eight people from the rural municipality had tested positive for the virus. Of late,  many migrant workers have returned to Banke from Maharashtra, one of the worst COVID-affected states in India.

Eight people were detected with COVID-19 in Rautahat district — seven men, their ages ranging from 21 to 30 years, are from Ishanath Municipality, and a 28-year-old woman is from Madhav Narayan Municipality.

Three of those testing positive for the disease today are from Dhanusha.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Population Bikas Devkota told mediapersons that  one person each tested positive for the disease in Bara, Morang, Gulmi, Khotang, Sunsari, Jhapa, Rautahat, Dang and Dhading districts.

In Gulmi district, a 41-year-old teacher infected with the disease is in critical condition. He is undergoing treatment in intensive care unit of Crimson Hospital, in Manigram of Tilottama Municipality, Rupandehi.

According to Vector Control Inspector of Rupandehi Office Kedarnath Shah, the patient, who was admitted to the private hospital on Thursday, is in critical condition.

He had complained of fever and was having difficulty breathing when he was admitted to the hospital. Shah said he fell ill a week before he was admitted to Manigram-based hospital.

He was first admitted to a Gulmi hospital from where he was referred to Crimson Hospital.

According to Shah, Crimson Hospital has been sealed and authorities are trying to quarantine 32 health professionals and doctors involved in the treatment of the Gulmi patient.

According to Shah, the patient had no outside travel history and the family suspects that he might have contracted the disease from people being quarantined in the school where the man is a teacher.

The 38-year-old man who tested positive for coronavirus in Bara district is a journalist from Karaiyamai Rural Municipality. He works in district headquarters Kalaiya.

He had taken part in a panchayat (village council meeting) attended by 30-35 people. He is not the first journalist to contract the disease.

Earlier, a 25-year-old journalist from Triyuga Municipality in Udayapur district and two other journalists from Parsa district had also tested positive for COVID-19.

Coronavirus infection has so far spread to 31 districts — Udayapur, Jhapa, Bhojpur, Dhankuta, Morang, Dhanusha, Parsa, Bara, Mahottari, Rautahat, Saptari, Siraha, Sarlahi, Kathmandu, Kavrepalanchowk, Sindupalchowk, Bhaktapur, Chitwan, Dhading, Makawanpur, Baglung, Nawalparasi-Bardghat Susta east, Nawalparasi-Bardghat Susta West, Bardiya, Dang, Gulmi Banke, Rupandehi, Kapilvastu, Kanchanpur and Kailali.

Thirty-six people have recovered so far, while two people — a 29-year-old postpartum woman from Sindhupalchowk district and a 25-year-old-man from Banke district — have succumbed to the disease in Nepal. The woman died a few days after giving birth. Her kin have tested negative for the disease.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on May 19, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.