Phub Dem | Paro

Paro is filled with officers in uniform. Sometimes it feels like a military town. They do the rounds in groups—in Drugyal, Lango, Geptay, Shaba, and Bonday.

By 7pm, all shops are closed. The towns look deserted.

This must be what someone called it “a delightful necessity”. People in Paro are well aware of the disease. Compliance is serious here.

Wangmo, 27, close her shops by 3pm. She cannot keep her shop open when there is no customer at all the whole day. “Safety is important. We are all doing our best.”

She said that closing her shop was more important than looking at opportunities to make money.

“The people here have been very cooperative. And this is very encouraging,” said an officer who has been doing the rounds of the town. “We are here to make sure that our people are safe.”

Some restaurants and bars entertain the crowds behind closed doors.

Gangju-Kitchu Tshogpa, Gyembo, said that people should be responsible at a time when the whole nation is grappling with a pandemic.

It is the people in the rural pockets who are more careful and conscious. “They stay home and avoid going out and gatherings,” Gyambo said.

Every night, about 30 Dessups accompany the police patrolling team.

Pema Zangmo, Paro’s Desuup coordinator, said, “The team leaves only when there is not a single person loitering in the town.”