I am relieved to hear that the government has decided to extend the quarantine period to 21 days. Here it is VERY IMPORTANT for every one to understand that it is far, far less expensive to quarantine the arrivals into the country - than to get into a situation where he have to begin to quarantine and isolate the home-grown cases. If we enter this phase, then we are in serious trouble and the situation will spiral out of our control.
Thus I urge the government to keep up the level of severity of vigilance as it is done now. There should be no occasion for the government to be blamed for what was not done, that which could have been.
I would like to once again bring to attention the issue of the following ten upcoming Tsechus – this issue I had already raised on the 8th of March, 2020:
Zhemgang Tshechu April 01 – 03, 2020
Talo Tshechu April 01 – 03, 2020
Gasa Tshechu April 01 – 03, 2020
Gomphu Kora Tshechu April 01 – 03, 2020
Paro Tshechu April 04 – 08, 2020
Rhododendron Festival April 17 – 19, 2020
Domkhar Tshechu May 02 – 04, 2020
Ura Yakchoe May 04 – 08, 2020
There is a need for the government, the Zhung Dratshang and the Dratshang Lhentshog - to consider the matter seriously and issue appropriate directives, not withstanding the fact that there is already a ban in place for large gatherings of any type, for any reason.
A single carrier of the virus during any one of the above Tsechus could effectively torpedo all the good work done so far. It does not help that the large number of people who traditionally attend these Tsechus are from among the high risk age group.
I keep reminding friends and family that treating the COVID-19 infection is cheap - because there is simply no treatment! For now, it is well within Bhutan’s means to quarantine few thousand Bhutanese people who cannot be denied entry. Serious trouble for us will begin when we let our guard down and take a lax attitude towards need for heightened vigilance, which is the need of the hour.
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