His Majesty The King arrived in Thimphu after a weeklong visit to Samtse and Phuentsholing to review the security and preparatory measures to combat Covid-19.

In Phuentsholing, His Majesty visited the Amochhu Land Development and Township Project area, to inspect the progress of the work on the construction of shelters for the Bhutanese evacuated from Jaigaon before the closure of the border. 1,300 RBA personnel, together with around 180 volunteers from Technical Training Institutes, have been working on completing the structures by the end of this month. Over a thousand households, living in school and college campuses in Phuentsholing at present, will be accommodated in these houses.

 Shelters built for Bhutanese evacuated from Jaigaon at the Amochu Land Development and Township Project area

Shelters built for Bhutanese evacuated from Jaigaon at the Amochu Land Development and Township Project area

His Majesty also granted audience to the Covid-19 Task Force members in Phuentsholing, Gomtu, and Samtse. 

In Samtse, His Majesty visited settlements along the border where there is the risk of cross-border transmissions. The borders are being patrolled by the RBA and RBP, together with DeSuups and volunteers from the nearby villages. 

His Majesty also granted separate audience to the trainee DeSuups in Samtse, Tendruk and Tashichoeling. 

An accelerated DeSuung training programme to train about 2,500 teachers, in-service graduates, unemployed youth, and other volunteers simultaneously in seven different locations is currently underway. The three-week programme, which started on April 6, has a special focus on public health and security, to prepare the trainees to support health workers in the efforts against Covid-19 if necessary. 

The volunteers and trainers were tested for Covid-19 at the start of the programme to rule out the possibility of a community spread. 

Training for another batch of 2,520 DeSuups will start from May 4.

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