The six facility quarantine centres in Wangdue Phodrang Dzongkhag are now empty after more than a month of facilitating quarantine following an outbreak of COVID-19 in Thimphu on December 20. Despite managing the quarantine of contacts of COVID-19 cases and returnees from high-risk areas, the district also quarantined outbound traveller from Thimphu as the capital saw an overwhelming number of stranded people during the lockdown.
According to the Chief Medical Officer of Wangdue Phodrang Hospital, 369 people have been quarantined in various facility quarantine in the Dzongkhag from 20th of last month. Of which 58 individuals were primary contacts of positive cases and the rest were stranded travellers and secondary contacts.
The last batch of quarantined people consisting of 55 individuals was discharged today.
However, the dzongkhag is expected to receive some stranded students who are returning from high-risk zones to their respective schools in the dzongkhag from tomorrow. Students will have to undergo seven days of facility quarantine before going to their respective homes and schools.
In the last 40 days, the surveillance team in the district conducted Antigen test on more than 1,500 people with travel history to Paro and Thimphu after the 7th of last month. The team comprising of twelve health workers also collected more than 600 lab samples from the people in the dzongkhag to prepare the lockdown relaxation earlier. All of them tested negative.
Today, the situation in the dzongkhag is back to normal with people resuming their business and movement of both people and vehicles allowed after declaring the dzongkhag as a green zone.
Changa Dorji, Wangdue Phodrang
