… the oldest Covid-19 patient is doing well

Rajesh Rai | Phuentsholing

Much to the surprise of residents and health workers, Tading gewog in Samtse detected 102 positive cases on March 1.

This is the outcome of at least 600 samples collected on February 27-28. The gewog was still under lockdown for two weeks when the samples were collected.

The first Covid-19 positive case in Tading was detected on February 12 from the Amochhu checkpoint, following which a 10-day lockdown was enforced on February 13.

After the lockdown was over, there was no news of Tading until February 26 when the dzongkhag announced that lockdown will be extended for a mass screening on February 27-28.

By this time, four days had passed after the completion of the 10-day lockdown.

Tading residents say this may be a reason that led to the further spread of the virus.

“People may have breached the protocols due to frustration,” a resident said.

One resident said when Tading was put under lockdown people didn’t have any idea about the infected ones and their primary contacts.

“We just heard there was a driver who was first infected,” the resident said. “We heard later that gewog officials were also infected.”

However, the resident said the main problem started when the 10-day lockdown was over and there was no news of the next move. People eventually started to question the gewog officials, the resident said, adding only then Samtse dzongkhag administration had notified of further lockdown and mass screening on February 26.

Another resident, Karma, said the virus could have had spread long before the first community case was reported on February 12.

“But there were no tests done in the community,” he said.

Some suspect that the virus could have entered Tading as early as when Phuentsholing detected its first case in a 37-year-old foreign worker working in a restaurant in the town.

Late yesterday evening, sources said officials in Tading were still picking up the infected villagers to take to the isolation centre. More than half of the infected would be left to home-quarantine, it has been learned.

Oldest Covid-19 patient in the country 

Meanwhile, the oldest Covid-19 patient in the country today, the 103-year-old woman is also from Sherabling village of Tading. She is currently home-quarantined, where she is tended medically, and her health has improved.

The woman tested positive on February 15.

Although she didn’t have any underlying conditions, she remained frail and bedridden most of the time even before testing positive to Covid-19 due to old age. Today, the woman can feed herself, a source confirmed.

She is also fully conscious and can walk with support.

Sources also said she is doing better now than before as she has received medical attention.

She tested positive for Covid-19 on the tenth day after testing positive. She will be tested again.