The Technical Advisory Group (TAG) team identified 48 villages in Sarpang Dzongkhag as a high-risk area, vulnerable to COVID-19. According to the team, these villages are located close to Indian settlements near the Bhutan–India border.
The TAG team carried out an inspection and assessment of containment centres of frontline workers of Sarpang dzongkhag last month.
The team recommended Sarpang Dzongkhag COVID-19 task force to strengthen security and surveillance system with public awareness and advocacy to the villagers living in close proximity to Indian villages at the border area. The risk of people doing business, casual interaction and smuggling drugs from across the border was highlighted.
“We have assessed all the risk. Villages within less than 5 km from the border are assumed as high risk because there are more chances of interaction and 5 to 9 km distance are assumed as low risk. Scientifically, it may not be correct, but then we just assumed that people will not be that much willing to walk if the distance is far. So more than 10 km apart we kept it as low risk,” said Rinxin Jamtsho, a TAG team member with the Health Ministry.
The TAG team also pointed out the high risk of infection for people working at the Mini Dry Port, involved in loading and unloading goods. It was recommended for schedule testing of workers once to twice in a month.
“Our surveillance team has a schedule to test them frequently. Since they are the frontline workers they have high-risk going by the kind of materials we are importing from India. So we will be testing them once to twice in a month like our health workers,” he added.
The TAG team carried out inspection and assessment of around 70 point of entries along the Bhutan- India border.
Karma Wangdi
