10 people quarantined in Pemagatshel  

Yangchen C Rinzin

People of Pemagatshel panicked after a rumour about a monk from Denchi had returned from Sikkim, India and had Covid-19 symptoms.

Following the rumour, the surveillance team from health ministry followed up and found that the news was fake. No monk had returned from Sikkim.

“The health officials did all that was within their capacity to trace the man but it turned out it was a fictitious figure,” said a health official.

Later, the dzongkhag administration of Pemagatshel clarified and issued fake news advisory. It mentioned that the person who is currently being quarantined is a painter who had recently returned home from Vietnam.

Dzongrab Passang Dorji said that the painter had come to the village to visit his father who was unwell. He had travelled by flight on March 15 and had been to Trongsa from Paro on the same day. He had then travelled to Kanglung, Trashigang on March 16 and then to his village on March 17.

“However, since we had sensitised people in the gewogs on Covid-19, gewog officials informed dzongkhag about him,” Dzongrab said. “We immediately followed up and he was quarantined in Denchi on March 18.”

The dzongkhag administration, dzongrab said, made sure that measures were  put in place as contingency plan.

The dzongkhag administration continues to give advocacy, has created flu clinics, including facility quarantine and isolation wherever possible.

“We’ve also prepared quarantine centres in gewogs in case the situation worsens,” dzongrab added.

There are a total of 10 people under quarantine including the painter as of March 22, of which, eight are quarantined in Nganglam.

Of the total, two people quarantined in Pemagatshel, a 17-year-old male is under home quarantine in Chimong gewog. He had travelled from Guwahati on March 16.

Of the eight quarantined in Nganglam, two are under home quarantine who had travelled from Rangia and Guwahati in Assam. Six are at the facility quarantine.

Most of the suspects had travelled from Guwahati, Assam, and Kuwait between March 5 and March 19.

Although there were 11 people quarantined earlier, a 32-year-old female who had returned from Delhi was released after completing 14 days on March 21.