Bhutan reports 228 COVID-19 Cases. After imposing the lockdown, Bhutan is able to contain the spread of virus.

With no new cases detected in the past 48 hours (September 2 and 3), the nationwide lockdown has proven effective in preventing further spread of Covid-19.

According to Health Minister Dechen Wangmo who said that the nationwide lockdown was imposed at the right time. Following the spike in cases, Bhutan announces the lockdown on August 12. The lockdown has removed from September 4.

The 21-day lockdown has drastically contained the spread of COVID-19.

She said that although there were no new cases in the past two days, it did not mean that the country was free of the disease. She said that no expert could tell that Thimphu was free of Covid-19.Link

“This is mainly because it depends on the mode of transmission mode of the virus. Covid-19 is an infectious disease. A single individual is enough to spread it to the rest of the community.”

Giving a hypothetical situation, Lyonpo said that it would take only five days for 13 positive cases to infect the entire population in Bumthang. “It is a highly infectious disease which is why, for now, we cannot ascertain that Thimphu is free of the virus.”

She said that although, for now, there was no infection in the community, the possibility of detecting new cases in the coming days was not ruled out. “What we are saying is that there is no spread of infection in the community for the past two days.”

The minister added that the government drew its confidence to initiate the unlocking phases based on the effective surveillance, which established that there were no major outbreaks in the communities.

Besides the scientific and well-calculated initiatives put in place by the health ministry, Lyonpo said that it was also because of a ‘divine intervention’ that led to the effective execution of the lockdown measures.

“Like the Prime Minister says, for us the local transmission and lockdown all came in a proper manner, which allowed things to go as planned,” she said.

She said that divine intervention, led by His Holiness with several kurims in the country, timely lockdown, detection of cases in a proper manner, and being able to effectively put in containment measures all contributed in keeping the transmission of virus under control.