August 28, 2020
10:30am – Three teams comprising of laboratory personnels from the Royal Centre for Disease Control and Khesar Gyalpo Universtiy of Medical Sciences of Bhutan have been deployed at 6am this morning to test people residing along Thimphu-Phuentsholing highway today.
The rationale behind doing this is to try and pick up any probable active cases and understand the extent of transmission if any from the places where people travelling from Phuntsholing might have stopped over during their travel.
10:30am – A 23-year-old woman has tested positive for Covid-19 in Phuntsholing. She was in the quarantine facility. She is one of the contacts in relation to the mini dry port case.
One person is being declared recovered.
This takes the total number of positive cases in Bhutan to 184 with 65 active cases.
Source: MoH
August 27, 2020
August 26, 2020
27,134 samples were collected from the active community surveillance in Phuntsholing as of August 24. There will be few additions in the total number of samples collected in the coming days as sample collection from some rural parts is still on going.
The samples that are collected are still being tested in Phuntsholing Covid-19 laboratory as well as in the Royal Center for Disease Control, Thimphu.
Since a huge number of samples were collected, the samples are being tested in a batch-wise manner. The testing of these samples collected will be completed by the end of this week.
Source: MoH
Five more Covid-19 positive cases were detected (4 males and 1 female) last night.
This is in addition to the 12 declared last night at 10pm.
These new cases are also detected through active surveillance in Phuntsholing.
Therefore, a total of 17 new cases was detected in the last 24 hours.
15 males: 55 years, 54 years, 51 years, 49 years (4), 47 years, 43 years, 38 years, 37 years, 36 years (2), 34 years, and 20 years old.
2 females: 30 years and 14 years.
Meanwhile, one person is being declared recovered.
This takes the total number of positive cases in Bhutan to 173 and active cases to 55.
Also, two Bhutanese in Australia had tested positive. In total three Bhutanese have recovered.
Note: The total cumulative figure for people quarantined so far has reduced because a risk assessment was conducted and 272 people didn’t qualify to be listed under the quarantine list.
Source: MoH
August 25, 2020
12 new Covid-19 positive cases were detected today through the active community surveillance in Phuntsholing.
Contacts are currently being traced.
A 29-year-old woman was detected positive while in a quarantine facilitiy in Samtse. She had recently returned from India.
She will be moved to isolation today.
Meanwhile, two people were declared recovered.
This takes the total number of Covid-19 positive cases in Bhutan to 156 with 39 active cases.
Source: MoH
August 24, 2020
11am: Three more declared as recovered as of yesterday. No new Covid-19 cases detected.
MoH
August 23, 2020
1:30pm:In the phase of easing the lockdown, Trashigang dzongkhag Covid-19 taskforce started distributing of movement card to the residents in and around Trashigang Throm (town) today.
Trashigang is divided into three zones town zone, buffer zone and gewogs.
Movement for card holders (8am-12am and 2pm-6pm) is allowed for four hours to walk and shop at 11 identified shops in their respective zone.
The dzongkhag estimates about 286 people moving about.
Vehicle movement is not allowed. It will be implemented tomorrow.
9am: A 35-year-old man who is one of the primary contacts of a Phuntsholing case has tested positive. He is in a quarantine facility in Thimphu.
Two people are being declared recovered.
This takes the total number of positive cases in Bhutan to 155 and active cases to 43.
Source: MoH
August 20, 2020
3:27pm: Happening now: Trongsa dzongkhag task force is discussing dividing gewogs and throm into zones and sub-zones. Four zones are proposed within the town area and 24 zones in the five gewogs depending on the number of population. The initiative is to provide efficient service delivery and relax lockdown measures within the zones. To facilitate zone wise implementation and monitoring of lockdown based on Covid-19 situation, every household will be given a movement card. The proposals will be further discussed with the local leaders tomorrow.
Nim Dorji at Trongsa
12:10pm: Just In: Four medical staff in Punakha are today conducting monthly medical checkup for people near the Punakha hospital. The checkup is in accordance with the hospital’s Covid-19 contingency plan. Today, mother, child routine health checkups, refilling of medicines for chronic disease patients and family planning services are provided. The initiative is to avoid overcrowding at the hospital. The hospital administration has today identified around 16 strategic locations in Guma and Dzomi gewogs to provide these services. The services began yesterday and would go on for 2 weeks.
2pm: Shoppers in Changzamtok and Changbabndu wash their hands before entering shops. The trade department has asked all shops to keep provisions for shoppers to wash their hands. The shoppers must also wear face masks, and maintain physical distancing.
1:58pm: Happening now in Thimphu: Health officials are collecting samples for Covid-19 RT-PCR test from those who have visited Phuentsholing on or after August 1 and have registered for the test. The health ministry is asking those who visited Phuentsholing on or after Aug 1 to call 1023 or register online for the test.
12:10pm: Starting today, routine immunization and family planning methods are available from outreach clinic established at Paro Tsongdue town near Choeten Lhakhang. Paro Dzongkhag Administration is requesting patients to refrain from visiting the hospital unless it is an emergency, or delivery and routine ANC checkup. Those visiting the hospital will be screened at the Taju tri-junction and only those who require immediate medical care will be allowed to visit the hospital. This interim measures is aimed at decongesting the hospital. The notification from the dzongkhag states that medicine for those with chronic illnesses will be dropped to the individual’s home. These measures, according to dzongkhag administration is aimed at preventing the spread of Covid-19 by breaking the transmission chain. Call 2000 or 1382 for tele-consultation should you require any medical attention.
~ Reporter Phu Day at Paro
12pm: Mass testing is underway in high alert zones in Paro
The health teams were divided into three groups to conduct tests in Mendi, Bondey and Woochu areas.RT-PCT test is being done on a member from each household in the area and those suffering flu-like symptoms. However, all residents living in the building identified as red zone has to undergo compulsory RT-PCR test.
11:40am: A 46-year-old man at Chengaline in Assam, Indian tested Covid-19 positive yesterday. The man came from Cooch Bihar in West Bengal on August 11 and was kept in quarantine at Tamulpur quarantine centre. Chengaline shares border with Samdrupjongkhar.
According to Garage- Mela Bazaar Covid-19 task force-in-charge, the man tested positive after seven days in quarantine and was sent to Nagarjuli Model hospital. 3 positive cases were recorded in Garage-Mela Bazaar so far.
August 18, 2020
2:30pm:Teams of laboratory officials are testing people in Thimphu who visited Phuentsholing and registered for the test through call or the online form.
Similar tests are ongoing in all the dzongkhags where people have registered.
Health ministry requests everyone to please declare if you have travelled from Phuntsholing on or after August 1.
2:30pm: Teams of laboratory officials are on the move in Thimphu testing people who have registered for test through the call and the online form. Similar tests are ongoing in all the dzongkhags where people have registered.
We request everyone to please declare if you have travelled from Phuntsholing on or after August 1.
12:30Pm: A 68-year-old man has been found to be Covid-19 positive in Paro. He is the primary contact of the two cases who tested positive in Paro yesterday.
10am: In addition to the 4 persons declared positive last night, 1 more woman (aged 33) has been detected Covid-19 positive. The case was detected through a Flu Clinic in Phuentsholing.
The total number of cases in Bhutan is now 146 and there are 43 people in the isolation.
August 17, 2020
9pm:A 40-year-old woman from Mongar tested positive on rapid diagnostic test today.
She was in Phuentsholing with her husband who works there as a driver. The husband came to Mongar on July 27. The woman reached Mongar on July 31 along with their 3 children.
8pm:The country today has adequate and quality testing kits and equipment. The country will receive Nu 600 million worth of testing kits and equipment tomorrow. Another batch will be flown in on August 23: Prime Minister
8pm: Of the 99 contacts of those who tested positive in Phuentsholing are residing in Thimphu. Of that, 60 have tested negative to Covid-19. The rest are undergoing confirmatory tests: PM on BBS TV
8pm: Movement card implementation in Thimphu Thormde is suspended until tracing and testing for the contacts of Covid-19 positive individuals are complete: PM
8pm: Except for Gasa and Lhuentse, 1,673 residents from the other 18 dzongkhags have visited Phuentsholing and called 1023 since yesterday to test them for Covid-19: PM on BBS TV
6:42pmTwo primary contacts of the positive patient in Phuentsholing, who are in Paro have tested positive.
The couple has been isolated and is in the Covid-19 centre in Paro.
While the health surveillance team is tracing the contacts of the two positives cases in Paro, the public is urged to remain at their homes and cooperate with the officials on duty.
6:41pm:896 contacts traced till date since the detection of the first Covid-19 case from the RRCO dry port.
August 14, 2020
5pm: Agriculture and finance ministers are at the Centenary Farmer’s Market (CFM) ensuring smooth dispatch of vegetable packages to residents in Thimphu thromde.
With the support of De-Suups, agriculture and CFM officials are arranging delivery of packages, which costs Nu 360, to different zones in the capital. The first pick-up truck moved to Changzamtog area around 3.30pm.
This is to complement the delivery of essentials through the agents under the thromde. While this lot of vegetables are from the CFM storage, the ministry has already started receiving agriculture produce from the districts.
The accompanying De-Suups and forestry officials will announce through loudspeakers the arrival of the vegetable van, while also making sure people stepping out to collect the packages strictly follow Covid-19 rules.
5pm: 97 contacts have been traced so far for the three new cases detected today.
51 have have been put under facility quarantine and remaining under strict home quarantine.
Contact tracing is still ongoing.
MoH
4:40pm Samdrupjongkhar health officials conduct Covid-19 rapid antigen test on 25 people who entered Samdrupjongkhar from Phuentsholing, Gelephu and Thimphu today. About 112 people entered the town from these places and some have moved to Pemagatshel, Nganglam and other dzongkhags.
August 13, 2020
7pm: Phuentsholing is now declared a red zone. The entire nation is in lockdown but additional restrictions and surveillance will be enforced in the drungkhag starting today. Among others, all essential movements out of the drungkhag will have to undergo stringent Covid-19 screening at the Rinchending checkpoint first.
7pm:Duty Free Ltd outlets to render the door-to-door distribution of tobacco products: PM
2:15pm: Five men (22-50 years old) have been quarantined in Khuruthang, Punakha.
They came from Phuentsholing between August 4 and 8. They were at Toebisa gewog.
The men were working at a Mini Dry Port near the main gate. They were living the same hostel.
However, the rapid test results conducted yesterday were negative for all men.
They will be quarantined for 21 days and tests would be conducted accordingly.
1pm:224 primary contacts and 94 secondary contacts have been traced so far of the 25-year-old Covid-19 positive man from Phuntsholing.
Contact tracing is still on-going along with contact tracing for the 12 new positive cases.
More updates will be provided later today.
11am: 12 more positive in Phuentsholing
12 men who are the primary contacts of the positive case from Phuentsholing are all found to be Covid-19 positive. They are from the Mini Dry Port quarantine facility and not from the community.
The test results for the * marked above are still awaited.
3 people are being declared recovered.
Appeal from the Health Ministry:
a. With cases reported outside the quarantine facilities, there is now a heightened risk of exposure to Covid-19. Everyone is requested to Stay at Home.Under unavoidable circumstances, when you need to leave the house to dispose waste or collect deliveries of essential supplies, please make sure to wear a mask, maintain physical distance and wash your hands immediately upon returning home. It’s “Our Gyenkhu” to protect ourselves and our communities from Covid-19.
b. The Ministry of Health would like to appeal to every Bhutanese to strictly abide by the COVID-19 prevention measures put in place by the government. One such critical measure is the mandatory quarantine of 21 days for all Bhutanese entering the country from an overseas travel/stay, we request every Bhutanese returning to the country to strictly abide by it or face consequences as per the laws of the land.
c. The Ministry of Health strongly urges all Bhutanese especially those residing in the southern border towns to practice effective physical distancing, good personal hygiene, and proper cough etiquette, at all times.
August 12, 2020
6:36pm: The distribution centres are overwhelmed by calls for essential items. Thimphu Thromde alone got more than 350 calls yesterday alone. The centre was able to deliver 40 percent.
6:33pm: A labourer at the Phuentsholing mini-dry port tested positive for Covid-19 today.
The 28 labourers were lodged in a quarantine-like hostel to ensure that any potential infection is prevented.
The person was tested positive in mass testing of more than 16,000 tested for Covid-19.
Contact tracing is underway.
6:12pm: Final contacts traced for the 27-year-old woman who tested positive in Gelephu:
Primary contacts: 135
Secondary contacts: 204
Note: The total number of primary contacts and secondary contacts vary compared to yesterday’s because the surveillance team conducted a risk assessment and were therefore screened out.
6:11pm: The Police along with Ministry of Health are tracing the primary contacts of the positive case from Gelephu reported on 10 August 2020 particularly in relation to travel history from Paro to Thimphu on 26 July 2020. While the taxi driver has been identified and quarantined, the two co-passengers are yet to be traced.
In brief, on 26 July 2020, at around 2.30 PM, a white Wagon R taxi with luggage hood bearing number BT- 1- A5709 picked up 3 female passengers from Paro near the Vegetable Market. The other 2 female passengers are said to be mother and daughter visiting Paro to offer prayers at Dungtse Lhakhang. The mother is described as middle aged woman with short hair while the daughter is thin and fair in complexion. On reaching the Babesa Expressway opposite the Twin Buildings, the mother is said to have asked the taxi driver to stop the taxi to hand over the ‘momos’ to a man she called and asked to wait on the road.
Thereafter, the mother and daughter exited the taxi in front of Mojo Park/The Zone on the Chang Lam at around 3.37 PM.
The Police and MoH request the persons fitting the above descriptions and antecedents to come forward and kindly contact the Police at 17668667 / 17613822 / 17600219 or MoH at 2121.
5pm: A woman and her child who are in quarantine in Trongsa tested negative on RT-PCR. She was one of the primary contacts of the index case who tested Covid-19 positive in Gelephu.
The duo will remain in quarantine for another 19 days.
They will be tested again if they show any symptoms. Otherwise, they will be tested after the completion of the quarantine period.
5pm: In regard to the contact tracing of the 27-year-old woman who tested positive in Gelephu:
Primary contacts: 137 (All tested negative on PCR test except 14 results pending from Sarpang Dzongkhag). 55 are put under facility quarantine and remaining on strict home quarantine.
Secondary contacts: 111 (all are under strict home quarantine).
Note: The total number of primary contacts and secondary contacts vary compared to yesterday’s because the surveillance team conducted a risk assessment and were therefore screened out.
4pm:The health officials from Gelephu Central Regional Referral Hospital has left to conduct contact tracing of the index case in Sershong village. The woman is believed to have come in contact with all 61 households of the village. 35 primary contacts of the index case were quarantined so far.
3pm: Two men (aged 25 and 59) and a 47-year-old woman have tested positive in the Covid-19 tests performed yesterday taking the overall total for confirmed cases to 116 and total for active cases to 19.
The 59-year-old man and the 47-year-old woman were already in the quarantine in Phuentsholing.
The 25-year-old man is a loader with the Regional Revenue & Customs Office, working at the Mini-Dry Port (MDP) in Phuntsholing. He came to the Phuntsholing Hospital on 11th August 2020 with symptoms. 183 primary contacts of the 25-year-old man have been traced so far. The contact tracing is still on-going. More updates on it will be provided later today.
Source: Health Ministry
3pm: The 21-year-old mother who was stranded in Wangdue due to lockdown has been taken to Thimphu.
Dzongkhag and police officials arranged an official vehicle to take the mother to her 1-year-old daughter in Thimphu. The mother left Bajo at 2pm.
2:15pm: The 21-year-old mother of a year-old daughter has been stranded in Bajo, Wangdue. She came to Bajo on July 12 evening from Thimphu and had plans to return to Hejo, Thimphu yesterday morning.
The taxi driver wasn’t willing to take us saying that lockdown had been announced. I am worried about my daughter because she isn’t sleeping well,” she said. Her daughter is with the mother’s parents today. The dzongkhag is aware of the issue and is trying to render help.
01:30pm: Residents in Phuentsholing town queue for grocery items. They are headed to Tashi Commercial Corporation department store.
01:30pm:The essentials delivery in Tsirang hasn’t started yet. Taskforce members are attending meetings back to back. FCBL outlet in Damphu was asked to make lists of food items required in and around town areas.
The authorities are making permit cards for those who have to deliver essentials and others who have authorised to move.
Update: Gewog leaders are coordinating essentials requirement in their respective gewogs.
01:30pm: The 29-year-old taxi driver, who drove the woman who tested positive to Thimphu on July 26 is now in quarantine center in Paro.
Upon RDT antibody test and Antigen test the results came out negative. Sample for RT-PCR test was sent to Thimphu this morning to rule out the virus. The results are soon to be out.
On July 26, the woman who returned from the Middle East upon completing the mandatory quarantine period travelled to Thimphu with two other female passengers, probably mother and daughter. The taxi driver dropped the other two passengers at city bus parking while the positive case woman was dropped till Motithang.
The Taxi driver called the police last night past 11pm after one of his colleagues shared about the contact tracing of the taxi driver on that day.
At that time he was working at one of his construction sites. He said he didn’t drive taxi for more then a week for working at the site. He also did not have smart phone to avail himself the information shared via WeChat group that the Paro Taxi Association was trying to trace through.
11:30pm: All five contacts from a hotel in Rilangthang, Tsirang who had come in contact with the index case in Gelephu tested negative for Covid-19 on RT-PCR test conducted at Gelephu hospital.
11:30pm: The 31-year-old woman and her 5-year-old son who are in quarantine in Bumthang tested negative to RT-PCR tests in Mongar Covid-19 testing center last night. She was one of the primary contacts of the index case who tested Covid-19 positive case in Gelephu.
The woman came in close contact with the index case in Gelephu on August 4.
The woman and her child will be in quarantine for another 19 days. They will be tested again if they show any symptoms of the disease. Otherwise, they will be tested after the completion of the quarantine period.