A 25-year-old man tested positive for coronavirus in Gaighat Bazaar, Udayapur, on Friday. With this, the number of infected people in Udayapur has reached 33, according to the data of the District Health Office in Udayapur.

Among the 33 infected, 15 have been discharged from hospital after receiving treatment.

“A journalist from Shantinagar Tol in Gaighat Bazaar who was reporting from the coronavirus-affected area in Bhulke has tested positive for the virus. He had also attended coronavirus-related interactions, discussions, press briefings and meetings in the local unit,” said Bharat Khadka, chairman of the Udayapur Chapter of Federation of Nepali Journalists.

On May 13, the District Health Office had collected the throat samples of 26 journalists reporting from Bhulke for PCR tests. The Coronavirus Laboratory of the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences confirmed the positive case on Friday.

“This is the first positive case found outside of Bhulke in the district. Until now, the virus had not spread from one community to another,” said Mohan Subedi, chief at the District Health Office.

On Saturday, the infected man was sent to the coronavirus-specific hospital in Biratnagar for treatment. Two other people staying with him are currently in quarantine.

“This is also the first case of a journalist getting infected in the province,” said Bikram Luitel, chairman of Province 1 Federation of Nepali Journalists.

According to him, the infected journalist was in regular contact with the district chairman of the Nepal Communist Party and other journalists in the district, and had interviewed the coordinator of the District Coordination Committee a few days ago. According to locals, he had been regularly travelling in a motorcycle as a pillion rider in Gaighat Bazaar until a few days ago.