Phurpa Lhamo 

Three cases from the community tested positive yesterday in Wangdue; two are health workers and the other is an employee of the Punatsangchhu Hydroelectric Project.

Samples of the two health workers were collected on January 17 with other health workers. After the two tested positive on antigen tests, the samples were sent to Thimphu and were confirmed yesterday.

According to a notification issued by the Wangdue Dzongkhag Administration, the taskforce started testing a person from each household yesterday.

Wangdue detected its first community case on January 15. The 35-year-old man was an expatriate employee of the Hindustan Construction Company (HCC).




Following this, on January 17, 110 tested positive from the community. The majority were employees of PHPA.

On January 18, three more tested positive, two of whom were daily wage workers in the PHPA area. The other is a diabetic patient living with his family in the Bjimthangkha, PHPA I colony.

The man had visited the hospital for his routine health checkup when he tested positive. The same day, two individuals also tested positive from Lobesa, Punakha.

On January 7, 66 tested positive in the quarantine facilities. They were expatriate workers who had entered Wangdue from Gelephu and were in the quarantine facility in Rurichhu.




On January 9, two individuals; 12 on January 10; one on January 11; and 21 individuals on January 13 tested positive from quarantine facilities.

The Wangdue-Punakha Covid-19 taskforce has started providing emergency services.

Movement of stranded individuals was also facilitated on January 18.

According to the taskforce, more than 150 vehicles with over 470 passengers were facilitated via Wangdue and Punakha to their destinations.