More details have emerged on the various factors contributing to the second outbreak and its spread. Government officials still regard the most probable source of the second outbreak as being the 27th November 2020 flight, mentioned by The Bhutanese last week, where 33 to 34 of the 52 to 55 …

Last weekend, The Bhutanese published a 2,400-word investigative article with the headline “How complacency and lax protocols led to the nation’s second COVID-19 outbreak,” which focused primarily on the systemic lapses that led to the second outbreak.  It examined measures inside the airport, logistics and coordination issues and found lapses from the …

With a large outbreak in Thimphu and Paro it is increasingly becoming clearer by the day that coordination issues and complacency on the ground contributed to the virus spreading in the two Dzongkhags. These twin qualities have long vexed the Bhutanese bureaucracy and system, and this time it reared its …

A big question mark with the massive second COVID-19 outbreak in Thimphu and Paro is on its source and how it spread, despite the various precautions taken. An infectious flight and a driver It all started with a 27th November flight from Kolkata carrying 52 passengers and 6 crew with …

If the Ministry of Health went by the World Health Organization (WHO) definition of a COVID-19 death, then Bhutan would still be having zero COVID-19 deaths. However, the Health Minister Dasho Dechen Wangmo said that the MoH decided to go with the Center for Diseases Control (CDC) USA and the …

GoI has assured support Bhutan has requested India for help in procuring 1 mn doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine or Covishield that is being manufactured in the Serum Institute of India (SII) to vaccinate the whole Bhutanese population. The Foreign Minister Dr Tandi Dorji said that the Government of India …

One of the big questions of the second national lockdown is its impact on the economy, revenue collections, budget and the economy in general. The Prime Minister Dasho (Dr) Lotay Tshering said that a formal economic impact assessment is not simple as the numbers will have to be fed in …

The last three Bhutanese girls in Iraq will be coming to Bhutan on 4th January. This will complete the biggest and most audacious rescue of Bhutanese citizens in distress in a foreign land. The problem first cropped up from 2019 and even before when there were petitions, news and requests …

When the COVID-19 outbreak first happened the regular Ministry of Health morning updates and the evening press conferences of the Health Minister came up with four categories of data, each with its own implication and meaning. These were firstly the Close Contact cases who were the close contacts of cases …

With a large number of Community Transmission cases in Thimphu and Paro and cases also found in Punakha, Wangdue, Bumthang, Dagana, Haa, Trongsa there is now an even greater urgency to get the vaccine. Health Minister says Bhutan going for any vaccine available Health Minister Dasho Dechen Wangmo said that …