As the number of new infections continues to decrease over the last few weeks, the National COVID-19 Taskforce is preparing to reopen Thimphu in the coming days. Mass testing for the residents of the capital city began today.
Following the mass testing a week ago, Thimphu is currently in the Yellow Zone where the movement of people is confined to their respective Mega Zones.
The mass screening began from North Thimphu today. An individual from every household is being tested. And more than 30,000 individuals will be tested over the next four days.
However, households in the buildings identified as hotspots or where positive cases have been detected earlier, individuals infected by the virus before and those who tested earlier will not be tested.
“Over the past week, we didn’t detect any new community cases. Thus, another round of community screening for Thimphu is being carried out with the aim to rule out any residual cases in the community and also to facilitate the transition from yellow to green phase,” said Ugyen Tshering, a Senior Programme Officer at the Ministry of Health.
He added that “the transition of Thimphu from yellow to green phase will depend on the result of on-going community screening. If the current community screening shows a large number of positive cases then Thimphu may have to remain in the yellow phase. However, if we detect no case or if we detect few cases that can be conveniently isolated and their primary contacts quarantined, Thimphu can progress to the Green Zone. This is all subjected to further risk analysis and the decision will be made by the National COVID-19 Taskforce.”
From 126 cases reported in the first week of lockdown, the number has reduced to eight last week.
Thimphu reported the majority of the cases. Of the 389 cases reported from eight districts, 307 are from Thimphu.
Meantime, residents of Thimphu are eagerly waiting for the reopening of the city.
“We cannot move around freely. We have been selling whatever the agriculture ministry supplies. If the lockdown is completely lifted, we can directly contact our dealers and get the vegetables. Currently, we do not have this option. Although the price is reasonable from the government identified suppliers, we cannot earn any profit,” said Tshering Dorji.
“If no one tests positive for the virus it will mean there are no cases in the community. If it is so, we will be able to go out and work, without fear of contracting the infection,” said Dorji.
37 teams including health workers and Desuups from the zoning team are conducting the mass screening. During the last screening in the capital, only three individuals were detected with the infection.
Phub Gyem
