Eleven positive cases were reported in Province 1 on Tuesday, taking the tally to 54.

Cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in seven of the total 14 districts in Province 1. The first positive case in the province was reported in Udayapur on April 17; in a month the infection has spread to six other districts. According to the provincial government, 33 positive cases in Udayapur, 12 in Jhapa, three each in Morang and Sunsari, and one each in Bhojpur, Dhankuta and Khotang have been reported so far.

“The first few cases of the infection were detected among those who had returned from India and overseas, but the recent cases point at ‘community transmission’ of the disease,” said Mohan Subedi, chief at the District Health Office in Udayapur.

A sanitation worker in Biratnagar of Morang, a staff nurse working at the Dhankuta District Hospital, a journalist in Udayapur and a security personnel in Sunsari are among the infected.

Polymerase chain reaction tests conducted on suspects at the Biratnagar-based provincial hospital confirmed nine positive cases for coronavirus in Kechana of Jhapa on Tuesday. Another person of the same place, who had recently returned from India, had tested positive for the virus on Monday. The Office of Chief Minister and Council of Ministers said the swabs collected from the people who had returned to the country with the man have also tested positive for the disease.

The Covid-19 infection was also confirmed in two people from Sunsari on Tuesday. Their samples came positive for tests done through the PCR method at the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan. According to the Social Development Ministry, one of the infected persons is a security personnel while the other is an 18-year-old man from Itahari Sub Metropolitan City. The virus was confirmed in another person of Gadhi Rural Municipality in Sunsari on Monday. He had also recently returned from Delhi, India.

On April 17, Udayapur reported its first coronavirus cases in twelve people staying at Nuri Mosque in Bhulke. As many as 33 people, including six women, have been infected with the disease in Udayapur so far.

“The virus was found in just one cluster at first but it later spread in the community,” Subedi said.

The infected are currently receiving treatment at the Biratnagar-based Covid-19 Treatment Centre.

A total of 12,000 individuals in the province have been tested so far, 3,161 of which were done via the PCR method, according to the office of Provincial Chief Minister.

“Eighteen infected individuals have been discharged after they recovered from the disease,” said Gyanbahadur Basnet, public health officer at the treatment centre. This takes the number of active cases in the province to 36.

A total of 1,178 individuals are currently housed at various quarantine centres across the province.