“People are not telling us the truth. Yesterday we caught two people lying. They came by car and they were returning from some other place but they said they went shopping. Later we found out that they came from a very far place, one came from America. These two men are under detention. They are not in quarantine,” said Dr Lotay Tshering, the Prime Minister.
Lyonchhen shared this during a press brief today afternoon. People are found to be lying about their travel history, providing wrong details while filing the declaration form as they enter the country. Lyonchhen added anyone found to be lying about their travel history will be dealt with according to the law.
Following the World Health Organization’s declaration of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) as a global pandemic, the government has stepped up its prevention measures too. Bhutanese citizens who are returning from abroad will be quarantined for 14 days after reaching Bhutan. The Prime Minister during the press brief urged people to declare honestly while entering Bhutan so as to contain the spread of coronavirus.
The Health Ministry has been asking Bhutanese residing abroad to either register if they wish to return home or contact the nearest embassies for help. The government assures to provide help with travel arrangement. The Bhutanese coming back will be quarantined.
“Depending on the answers they give to our questions when they reach here, we will decide if they should be self-quarantined at home or to be kept in our quarantine centres. If we find the risk higher, then we will keep them at our quarantine centres and will be provided with food and other amenities. And if the risk is not very high, we will request them to stay at home,” Lyonchhen said.
Currently, 62 first contacts are in the quarantine centres and 330 secondary contacts are in self- quarantine.
Sangay Chezom
