Around 23 bus drivers have been working in the frontline for over a month, transferring Bhutanese arriving at Paro International Airport to the various quarantine facilities.
Since hundreds of Bhutanese are returning home and all COVID-19 positive cases so far have been imported cases, these drivers are required to take preventive measures to reduce their risk of exposure to COVID-19.
Dawala, 38, who works as school bus driver for Lamgong Middle Secondary School, is one of them. To maintain a one-meter gap between the driver’s seat and the passengers, he created a makeshift safety grid in his bus by using tarpaulin and plywood.
With a baby back at home with his wife, Dawala stays with the other bus drivers at a hotel provided by the Dzongkhag Administration to keep their family safe.
The other bus drivers have also used white cloth materials to create a safety grid. The drivers say they have been provided with sanitizers, gloves and masks.
Wangchuk, a city bus driver with Thimphu Thromde said, “We are advised to maintain physical distance and not to interact with the students. I am not worried about getting infected, we all have to die one day so we are working hard.”
Jamtsho, a bus driver of Shaba Higher Secondary School, said that they don’t have any problems and are ready to serve the government anytime.
Bhutan Agriculture and Food Regulatory Authority also disinfects the buses after the passengers are dropped off to the quarantine facilities.
Sangay Chezom
