A group of 17 passengers including a bus driver had to discontinue their journey towards the east on Friday. A woman passenger tested positive. They are all in quarantine in Thimphu. The bus bound for Trashigang had to return to Thimphu from Lamperi. The woman received the news when the bus had crossed Dochula.
The 27-year-old woman was travelling to her hometown in Bumthang. She arrived in Thimphu from Phuentshogling on Wednesday after being quarantined and testing negative for COVID.
She then went for the COVID test the next day in Thimphu. And on Friday, she left for Bumthang in a bus just to return from Lamperi.
“I was tested on February 28 and entered quarantine on March 1. I took another COVID test on March 8 after completing the quarantine. We travelled to Thimphu on the 9th after the test results came out negative. The test result was valid for three days which was until March 10. So, I went to test for COVID at a flu clinic on the 10th. And on the morning of the 11th, I received a call that I tested positive for COVID-19. By then I had already crossed Dochula on the 7 AM bus. After the call, the bus turned back and we were all taken to quarantine centre,” said the COVID positive woman.
“We were travelling towards Trashigang but had to return from Lampelri as one of our fellow passengers tested positive for COVID-19. We are currently in quarantine centre,” said Choeten Zangmo, a passenger travelling in the same bus.
“We are in a quarantine centre in Thimphu. We had to return from Lampelri as a woman on the bus tested positive for the Coronavirus. We had some issues to attend to in the village. We are worried that we might have been exposed to the virus as we have small children,” added Pema Wangdi, another passenger.
14 bus drivers and two DeSuups deployed on duty at the bus station along with six officials from the RSTA have been put in a containment centre at the RSTA premise at Lungtenzampa.
“When we checked before the bus’s departure, everything was okay. We found that she tested negative on March 8 and an e-pass was also approved and that is why we let her move. Our responsibility is to check e-pass and RT-PCR test certificates,” said Phuntsho Wangdi, a DeSuup.
According to a member of the surveillance team, since the COVID certificate is valid for 72 hours, the e-pass must have been issued based on that.
The health ministry said all contacts have been traced and quarantined. Meanwhile, the buses are currently operating from the Yangchenphu School parking area.
Karma Wangdi
