The advice so far has been to not hoard but that changed during the monthly meet-the-press when Lyonchhen Dr Lotay Tshering said said if every person keeps around five to six months of food stock at home then there should not be a problem even if there is a lockdown …

Two of the biggest economic projects under construction in Bhutan are the 1200 MW Punatsangchu I project at Nu 93.75 bn and the 1020 MW Punatsangchu II project at Nu 72.90 bn and both of them are impacted by both the outbreak of COVID-19 in Bhutan from 6th March and …

One main question and worry at the top of many Bhutanese minds will be on if and when there would be a national lockdown, like neighboring India or other countries across the world. However, Lyonchhen Dr Lotay Tshering said that this scenario is highly unlikely even if there is local …

2000 plus applications on day 1 itself Most people calling are from the tourism industry The Druk Gyalpo’s Relief Kidu was launched on 14th April Tuesday morning around 10.30 am by the Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering. Immediately after the launch, the RMA Governor Dasho Penjo informed the gathering that …

Banks to get relief through CRR and T-Bills The CEOs of the two biggest banks in Bhutan, Bank of Bhutan (BoB) and Bhutan National Bank (BNB) both said that sheer majority of the interest waiver will go to medium and small borrowers. His Majesty had announced the waiver of three …

Working from home and social distancing should not affect service delivery: RCSC Chairperson One impact of the COVID-19 situation in Bhutan is a noticeable slowing down of service delivery from the civil service. This drop was noticeable from after the first case of COVID-19 in Bhutan, but it has become …

The Health Minister Lyonpo Dechen Wangmo said that it will be mandatory for Bhutanese to wear masks if Bhutan goes into the red zone. In an interview to The Bhutanese she said, “A lot of the countries around the world recommending face masks is due to the presence of community …

Countries around the world are finding out that one of the best strategies to deal with the COVID-19 virus is to conduct large numbers of tests followed by contact tracing, quarantine, isolation and treatment. The World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros A. Ghebreyesus himself gave the message of ‘test, …

As Bhutan sees an increasing numbers of cases jumping from 1 on March 6th to five as of 2nd April, the only comfort is that they are imported cases with no evidence of community transmission yet. However, if Bhutan does see large scale infections and community transfer then the Ministry …

Following the slogan of ‘hoping for the best and preparing for the worst,’ the government is in the midst of ensuring stocks of up to 6 months according to the Minister for Economic Affairs Lyonpo Loknath Sharma. The minister said that the worse case scenario would be if the numbers …