The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority continues to detain around one-and-a-half dozen people held on allegations of corruption in its own custody, despite the reporting of 37 Covid-19 cases among staff members.

The anti-corruption body reported on August 4 that its 15 staffers, most of them police personnel, tested positive for the virus. On Thursday, 22 more its staffers were found infected.

“About 18-20 people arrested on charge of corruption have been kept at our Tangal-based headquarters,” said Taranath Adhikari, spokesperson for the commission. “But, all safety measures have been adopted to prevent the spread of infection among them.”

After the Covid-19 cases were identified, the commission has been running its head office with staffers who tested negative for the disease. “We have only asked around one-third of the staff to report to work,” said Adhikari. The commission’s headquarter employs over 450 staff.

Despite the Covid-19 cases, the commission’s compound has not been sealed off. But, around 100 police personnel deployed at the commission haven’t been allowed to come out from their building on the premises.

As coronavirus cases soar across the country, dozens of police personnel at the police headquarters have tested positive for the virus. The police headquarters and the commission’s office are close to one another.

However, Deputy Inspector General Arun BC, in-charge of the police unit at the commission, told the Post on Tuesday that no direct link between the infections at the two places has been established.

Covid-19 cases in Nepal reached 22,214 as of Friday, with 464 new cases on Friday, according to the Ministry of Health and Population.