People living in Phuentshogling are frustrated to see positive cases of COVID-19 from the community even after 50 days of lockdown. They are now questioning the standard operating procedures to curb the spread of the virus.
The town went into lockdown on April 16 after two positive cases from the community. Since then the town recorded 64 cases from the community.
“Even after nearly two months of lockdown, there still are cases from the community. The system seems to have some loopholes. We feel that it is the responsibility of the task force here to fill up the leakages in the system,” a resident said.
“The positive cases keep rising. I feel that staying inside our homes for these many days didn’t help to break the chain. We the private employees are suffering a lot. Since the business is down, our income has been affected,” said another.
Earlier, the task force notified the residents that there will be mass screening from June 5. However, the mass screening was deferred after positive cases were detected from the community again. According to sources, mass screening right after community cases won’t be effective as the virus in the contacts of the positive cases will be in incubation. Hence, the lockdown in the town continues affecting not only the residents but also the stranded people.
“We have tested negative for COVID-19 several times now. We requested the officials to put us in quarantine even if we have to bear the expenses to travel out from here. But, our requests were turned down and we are still stuck here,” said a stranded person.
According to the chairman of the Southern COVID-19 Task Force, Sonam Wangyel, people’s frustration is obvious considering the number of days under lockdown. He says that the task force is trying its best to combat the virus though it is challenging, as the town is the main gateway for import and export.
“I think we slightly lacked enhanced surveillance in the past. We now understood it. We have already started vigorous surveillance. We also feel that we should strictly monitor the activities in the town. We also realised that we should be giving more awareness to the people regarding the situation here,” the chairman said.
The chairman also says considering the situation of the town, allowing people to leave the town is risky.
“For time being, we have stopped sending people from high risk to low risk. We are again looking at it. We will try to find a solution, which doesn’t go against health protocols and benefit our people. Hopefully, it will come soon,” he added.
Currently, the town is still under partial lockdown with designated shops allowed to operate. People are allowed to move on foot.
Sonam Penjor, Phuentshogling
