Monthly Archives: December, 0

Over a thousand people and 300 vehicles are still stranded in Phuentshogling since the beginning of the nationwide lockdown. And the emerging new cases every day from the town is making their chance to leave for home harder.  

Farmers of Toedpisa Gewog in Punakha are not as excited as they would normally be during this time when the maize is ready to be harvested. This season, they would hardly be able to do well out of the harvest. Due to the lockdown, their business of selling maize along the highway is gone.

Anxiety and depression were the common mental health issues that the National Mental Health Response Team in Thimphu dealt with. The team saw a drastic increase in callers seeking help related to mental health issues after the government announced a nationwide lockdown on 11th August.  Under the Royal Command of His Majesty The King, the team was established at the end of March to provide psychological support for those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The National Commission for Women and Children (NCWC) and Respect, Educate, Nurture and Empower Women (RENEW) recorded an increasing number of domestic abuse during the lockdown. More than 100 calls were recorded by the two organisations concerning domestic violence in just 17 days.

India recorded the world's highest single-day rise of COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours with nearly 79, 000 new infections.  According to Johns Hopkins University's tally, the spike in new case surpassed the United States record of 77,638 new cases on July 17 shifting the epicentre to India.

A 30-year old man from Salambi under Tsangkha Gewog in Dagana, who was under observation in Damphu hospital, left for Thimphu on his own to get a thorough checkup. He was related to the three individuals who passed away recently from a mysterious illness. However, health officials say the individual did not display any symptoms like the other patients while under observation. He was admitted to Damphu hospital on Friday. Despite this, he left for Thimphu this afternoon saying he is starting to display similar symptoms like those referred to Thimphu yesterday. He is also diagnosed with positive IgG for dengue fever. Technically the individual had an infection in the past. He also had a travel history to Gelegphu recently.  According to sources, the 40-year-old patient in Gelegphu is reportedly still in critical condition, while the two patients referred to Thimphu yesterday are in stable condition. Meanwhile, the Royal Centre for Disease Control in Thimphu has started investigating the cause of the fatal illness from the samples of body fluids and edible items collected from the patients and their house. An official said the reports will be out in a few days. 

When the government announced the relaxation of lockdown in the gewogs on August 21, farmers of Thridangbi in Monggar were relieved, but it was short-lived. After opening shops for two days to sell flattened maize (Tengma), local leaders again asked them to close their shops. This, farmers of Thridangbi say is affecting their business once again.

Everyone in the country, irrespective of nationality, must follow national protocols in place to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The Health Minister stated this during a press briefing yesterday after 28 cases were detected from the DANTAK and Indian Military Training Team cluster areas in Phuentshogling, Thimphu, and Haa, in the past few days. 

What is spreading faster than coronavirus? It is fake news. With the current pandemic taking a toll on the nation, fake news doing rounds on social media platforms undermines all the efforts exposing the nation to two-front war; the pandemic and infodemic.

After more than two weeks, the works at the Wangdue Phodrang Dzong Reconstruction Project have resumed. Following the nationwide lockdown, all works stooped at the reconstruction project. However, the district COVID-19 task force identified the site as a Self-Contained Zone and the approval to restart the works was sought from the National COVID-19 task force.