Spokesperson for the Secretariat of Federal Parliament, Roj Nath Pandey, has tested positive for coronavirus.

Pandey had visited Sudurpaschim Province via Sindhuli for monitoring of forests along with two teams of the Parliamentary Monitoring Sub-committee including Pradip Yadav, member of the Public Accounts Committee, two weeks ago.

Eight members of the Secretariat, including Pandey, and lawmaker Yadav were tested for COVID-19. Pandey today informed that he had tested positive.

The teams had gone for monitoring of forests outside Kathmandu despite directions from higher authorities against it.

House Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota and National Assembly Chair Ganesh Prasad Timilsina on July 20 had cited the lack of budget for COVID-19 and requested members of the Federal Parliament to not visit places outside Kathmandu for monitoring due to the same.

Similarly, Province 2 Internal Affairs and Law Minister Gyanendra Kumar Yadav was confirmed to have been infected with COVID-19 on Wednesday night.

According to sources, the minister’s driver and three of his security personnel have also been infected. The health condition of all of them is said to be normal.

Yadav had recently visited Kathmandu to participate in a meeting to discuss the adjustment of Nepal Police personnel as per the federal structure.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Home Minister Yam Bahadur Thapa, Home Secretary Maheshwar Neupane, and IGP Shailesh Thapa Kshetri were also present in the meeting.

PM Oli’s press advisor Surya Thapa informed that a PCR test was conducted on everyone present in the meeting, including Oli, on Saturday and the test came back negative.

Similarly, central committee member of main opposition Nepali Congress, Ajay Chaurasiya. The 53-year-old former minister had submitted his swab sample on Tuesday after developing cough and fever.

Likewise, six security personnel stationed at the residence of ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal have tested positive for coronavirus.

According to Dahal’s secretariat, the infected persons are the team of police personnel stationed at the entrance of the residence.

“Security personnel that move around with Dahal have, however, tested negative. Only those that were deployed for home security were diagnosed positive for Covid-19.”

There has been a resurge in number of coronavirus cases of late in the country, with a steady rise marked in the Kathmandu valley.