Choki Wangmo | Tsirang

Of about 7,000 Tsirang residents tested for Covid-19 during the two-day mass screening from February 7 to 9 in the dzongkhag, all tested negative.

Except for primary contacts from quarantine facilities, the dzongkhag did not see any community cases for more than a week.

The dzongkhag taskforce started gradual unlocking of the dzongkhag, which has been under lockdown since January 26, after two people tested positive from the community.




As of yesterday, Damphu town and peripherical gewogs like Gosarling, Tsholingkhar, Kilkhorthang, and Mendrelgang are declared yellow zone.

According to the public notification the taskforce issued, all shops are allowed to open, farming and livestock activities are allowed, construction activities are allowed in containment mode with approval from the taskforce, and school opening under containment mode is allowed.

Movement of people and opening of shops are allowed till 8pm.

Except for Charingma-chiwog in Rangthangling gewog, which is a red zone, other parts of the gewog are in the yellow zone. Earlier, primary contacts of the first cases were found in the chiwog.

As of February 10, the dzongkhag has 44 positive cases from which 12 have recovered and 32 are in isolation.




Meanwhile, residents are hopeful that they would be able to resume their normal routine soon.

A final year college student, who lives with her family in Gosarling, said that the lockdown has started to make her anxious and is hopeful that it would be lifted sooner. “With more number of people in the house, it is difficult to adjust.”

Another resident said that with the zoning system in place, it was convenient and less stressful.