The government will consider reopening the border gates when the National COVID-19 Task Force rules out the risk. Foreign Minister Dr Tandi Dorji said the risk is still not over and the reopening will depend on COVID-19 risk.
The Member of Parliament from Khamaed Lunana during the question hour session asked the foreign minister about the country’s border reopening plans.
“Most are saying that restrictions are not needed now. But if we look at certain countries, restrictions are still followed. In our country, there is a National COVID-19 Task Force that will study the risk of the virus properly. If there is no risk, they might even instruct us to open the border gates within a few weeks,” said Dr Tandi Dorji, Foreign Minister.
The foreign minister added that while the positive cases have decreased, the risk of COVID-19 still looms large.
“The risk is still not over. Yesterday, there was news about a new variant. The scientific researches state that these new variants spread faster than the earlier variants. Moreover, children below five years in our country are still not vaccinated,” added the Foreign Minister.
The foreign minister said discontinuing the mandatory five-day quarantine will also depend on the risk of the pandemic. The Khamaed Lunana MP said that the border closure and the mandatory quarantine have inflated the prices of goods besides affecting the number of tourists vising the country.
The country closed its border gates in March 2020 to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Kinley Dem
Edited by Sonam Pem
