Bhutan's COVID-19 success story.

PUBLISHED JANUARY 19, 2022 • 10 MIN READ

About Bhutan

Bhutan is a small country about half the size of the US state of Indiana and inhabited by about 770,000 people. Bhutan is cramped by the two giants, China in the north and India in the south. Due to its geographical location, Bhutan remained inaccessible to the outside world for so long. It was only in 1974 that Bhutan opened up for tourism and recorded 287 tourists that year. Since from the start, Bhutan was aware of the impact that mass tourism can have on its unique culture and unspoiled environment. Hence Bhutan adopted the policy of “High Value, Low Volume” tourism and we still adheres to this policy today.

Over the years tourism has become one of the major players to the Bhutanese economy. It generates huge employment opportunities and revenue for the government, next to hydroelectricity.

Thanks to tourism, healthcare and education are free in Bhutan. By traveling to Bhutan, you are directly contributing to the sustenance of our healthcare and education. This is one reason why travelers to Bhutan should feel privileged.

Pandemic preparedness

Bhutan is a member of a global family and we knew that we would not be spared by COVID-19 pandemic. Much before WHO declared the outbreak as public health emergency on January 30, 2019, the Ministry of Health began working on capacity building for disease surveillance and epidemic preparedness.

Some people and news agencies went on to blame the government for not banning the tourism early on. Government on the other hand reasoned out that it is against the international norms to impose travel ban without a single positive case in the country. Because of this we had some tourists in the country till first week of March. Had the government listened to those people wishing to ban travel, people working in tourism and hotels would have gone jobless from January only and it would have pinched our coffers more than now.

First positive case of COVID-19 in Bhutan

Bhutan woke up to the bad news on March 6 when the Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering announced on his Facebook page the first COVID-19 case in the country. The first bad luck has fallen on a 76-year-old American tourist who was in the country with his partner. The tourist tested positive for the coronavirus when he visited Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital in Thimphu complaining of some stomach disorder. The contact tracing was completed on the same night only. His Majesty the King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck personally oversaw the process staying throughout the night. Fortunately, all the people who came in contact with him including his partner tested negative. Of course, she tested positive after two weeks in quarantine.

In order to allow time for mitigation works, the government immediately banned incoming of tourists for two weeks. As the global situation got worsen day by day, the travel ban got extended till further notice.

The lone patient of the country got enormous love and compassion right from the Golden Throne. His Majesty constantly inquired about the couple’s well being and commanded our doctors that they should be treated more than our own people because they were here due to immense love for our country. The King also sent them some clothes. The Prime Minister and Health Minister also spoke to them. People sent flowers and prayed for speedy recovery.

The country’s index case left home on March 13 on chartered flight as he had underlying health conditions. His partner left the country few weeks later after recovery.

Bhutan Travel Guru's cancellation and refund policy for COVID-19.

Subsequent to travel closure, trips confirmed prior to March had to be cancelled or rescheduled. We at Bhutan Travel Guru understood the unprecedented crisis that people faced and we were very accommodating with whatever our travelers wished to do with their trips.

Few postponed their trips to future dates while most of them wanted payments to be refunded.

We are one proud company who have had refunded all the monies, without deducting a single penny. No hard feelings but some tour companies withheld as high as 50% of the payment.

Closure of schools and land borders with India

On March 18, government closed all the schools and institutes because of the fear of mass spreading of disease in case of an outbreak. After risk assessment, government reopened classes 10 and 12 on July 1 with safety precautions. For other classes, lessons were aired on television and online classes conducted. It has been such an ordeal for students living in far-flung villages because of poor Internet connection.

Phuentsholing was considered as high-risk zone as it shares border with India. Hence, classes 10 and 12 students in Phuentsholing were moved to other schools in Punakha and Wangdue.

Land borders with India in Phuentsholing, Samtse, Gelephu and Samdrup Jongkhar were closed on March 23. Only food items, medicines and oil and gas were allowed to come in.

Repatriation of Bhutanese from abroad

It was the Royal Command that government should facilitate homecoming of Bhutanese working and studying abroad whenever they wish to come. Repatriation flights were introduced from places like Dubai, Kuwait, Bangkok and Delhi and people arrived in flocks. This posed grave threat of spreading the virus in the country. 14-day hotel quarantine was made mandatory for all entering the country. Upon request by the people, quarantine period was later extended to 21 days. The entire cost for hotel quarantine were borne by the government.

Before Coronavirus hit Bhutan, about 2,000 Bhutanese people were living in the Indian city of Jaigoan due to housing shortage in Phuentsholing. Upon the Royal Command, temporary houses were built in Amochhu Land Development and Township areas in Phuentsholing to evacuate those people from Jaigoan. More than 5000 families were gifted with brand new homes in May.

Druk Gyalpo's Relief Kidu (grant) to the people affected by COVID-19 pandemic

Bhutan is blessed with a benevolent King. Whenever country strikes by calamities, His Majesty comes for rescue. People working in tourism and hospitality sectors were hardest hit amongst others. Small restaurants, entertainment centers, truck drivers and taxi drivers have also suffered loss and some even finding difficulty to pay house rents. His Majesty provided these affected people a monthly allowance to sail through the hardship, with effect from April.

The Royal Kidu was also granted to individuals who have availed loans from financial institutions. Loan installments were deferred till the situation gets better.

Sangay Menlha Lung (Initiation of Lung on Medicinal Buddha) by His Holiness the Je Khempo (Chief Abbot of Bhutan)

His Holiness the Je Khempo administered initiation on Medicinal Buddha live on television. Nothing is more soul enriching than Buddha Dharma during such difficult times. The Central Monastic Body, Rimpoches, Truelkus, Tsampas, Lams, Lopons, Monks and Nuns across the country conducted prayers and rituals to subside the risks from coronavirus in Bhutan and world at large.

Alternative employments

Everything has its time and everything ends. This pandemic too shall pass. But before it is gone people have to do something because life has to go on. In tune to this, tour guides and drivers who lost jobs because of the pandemic sought temporary employments in other trades. One promising avenue was agriculture because with the ban of vegetables import from India, the local produce will find the market more easily. Hence some of them went back to villages and took up farming. Some got engaged in tourism development works like cleaning up of hiking and trekking trails and beautification of parks while some enrolled for DeSuung Training to serve as volunteers.

Domestic tourism was non-existent in Bhutan before COVID-19 hit us. The Tourism Council of Bhutan took advantage of current situation and initiated the domestic tourism. Urban dwellers mostly from Thimphu took up some trekking tours and this helped few tour operators.

Coming together

It is fantastic to see people coming together during difficult times. Hotel owners provided hotels to be used as quarantine facility, house owners waived rents, farmers sent free vegetables and rice to the quarantine centres, banks waived interests and travel companies continued to pay their employees.

Business entities and individuals contributed whatever they could to the COVID-19 relief fund. International agencies also contributed their share.

Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) live telecasted entertainment programs by inviting famous singers, actors, music bands and village folks, in order to encourage people to stay at homes.

National Lockdown 1.0

The first nationwide lockdown was declared on August 11 after a woman in Gelephu tested positive for Coronavirus. The woman in fact was a blessing in disguise because two days after country went into lockdown due to her case, 12 positive cases were reported from Phuentsholing. It was expected that loaders at mini-dry port in Phuentsholing to have first contracted the disease while transloading essential supplies from Indian vehicles.

This being the first lockdown, there were some lapses on part of both government and people. It was a learning experience for all. Day by day, things improved. Government increased toll free numbers to receive grievances from people, delivery of essential supplies improved and zoning system was introduced which proved very helpful while carrying out surveillance and mitigation works.

On sponsorship of the Royal Office for Media, BBS telecasted Bhutanese movies every day during lockdown. Worrying that our street dogs would die of hunger, His Majesty commanded dogs to be fed handsomely.

The National Day celebration

Unlike in the past, the 113th National Day celebration had to be a closed-door event due to COVID-19 restrictions on large gatherings. It was held in the courtyard of the Punakha Dzong. The Royal Family, ministers, foreign diplomats, parliamentarians and few civil servants were present. Rest of the country stayed glued to the televisions to watch the live broadcast. The main highlight of the event is always the His Majesty The King’s national address.

His Majesty spoke at length about COVID-19 pandemic and appreciated on how people exhibited unity and determination like never before. As an appreciation for excellent handling of COVID-19 situation, His Majesty awarded red scarf to Health Minister Dechen Wangmo, Lungmar to Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering and Druk Thuksey institutional medals to DeSuung and Ministry of Health.

National Lockdown 2.0

We were eyeing more to the southern belt for possible outbreak because of porous borders we share with India. We were wrong. The nation’s second COVID-19 outbreak occurred from Paro airport. The bus driver who used to ferry passengers from airport to quarantine centers tested positive and this led people to believe that it must have started from Paro and then spread to Thimphu, although Health Minister said that finding patient zero is near impossible. The Paro airport seems to have had some logistics and coordination issues among multiple regulatory authorities. Sometimes everybody’s responsibility becomes nobody’s responsibility.

Fortunately, the disease hasn’t gone beyond Paro and Thimphu because of early detection. Health officials swept through whole population in Thimphu and Paro with mass testing. A month long lockdown was lifted on February 1st after ensuring zero new cases in the country.

Current COVID-19 Statistics in Bhutan

The Ministry of Health’s Facebook page publishes a dashboard daily at 7 PM displaying the current COVID-19 statistics (as shown in the picture above). To date, Bhutan has 2660 confirmed cases. Of this, 7 are active, 2650 recovered and 3 death.

Bhutan mourned for its first Covid-19 patient death on 7th January 2021. A 34-year-man with pre-existing medical conditions died in Thimphu hospital. The deceased reportedly was suffering from severe acute hepatitis, chronic liver disease and kidney failure.

International acclaim for smart handling of COVID-19 cases

With the guidance from His Majesty the King, Bhutan handled the threat and cases of COVID-19 most efficiently. Bhutan received international acclaim for the same. In order to monitor the situations, His Majesty personally visited southern Dzongkhags for about dozen times in rains, scorching sun, humid temperatures and thick jungles, unmindful of his own safety. His Majesty the 4th King also visited the south, met with COVID-19 Task Force members and gave moral boost to the volunteers who were manning the borders.

The Prime Minister, Health Minister and Foreign Minister who spearheaded the government during this unprecedented situation were all medical doctors before venturing into politics. Their experiences in health and disease came in handy. Bhutan elected right leaders at the right time.

COVID-19 vaccination in Bhutan

Bhutan worked on vaccine procurement since May. In order to reap maximum benefits from vaccine, Bhutan wanted to vaccinate the entire Bhutanese population in one go within a week. This is possible because of our small population. Excluding under 18, pregnant women and mothers with newborns, Bhutan has 533,000 people eligible for vaccine.

Honouring old ties of friendship between the two countries, Bhutan received 150,000 doses of Covishield vaccine from India on January 20th, almost immediately after India’s own roll out of the vaccine. Bhutan has requested for additional 400,000 plus doses and it is expected to arrive soon.

Reopening of tourism post COVID-19 pandemic

There is an urgency to reopen the tourism in Bhutan. The pandemic has left about 50,000 people jobless and also tourism is identified as a key driver to realize US $10B GDP target.

As of now, we are not sure when we can open up the tourism this year. We will write here as soon as good news arrives. Keep reading!

We already started to get enquires from few travelers and we are working out on itinerary formulation. We can keep plans ready to be used when tourism opens. However, payment will be accepted only after tourism is opened officially.

Is it safe to travel to Bhutan after COVID-19?

No country will be safer to travel than Bhutan after COVID-19 pandemic. We never had massive outbreak and it will not be in future because of our small population and strict safety protocols and health guidelines put in place.

Our entire population will be vaccinated soon in one go, making Bhutan the first country to do so in the world. Our public places like airports, hotels, banks, offices, schools, etc. have implemented COVID-19 safety protocols like social distancing, temperature checkup, hand sanitizing, hand washing, wearing mask and disinfect of surfaces between visits. The summary is, yes it is safe to visit Bhutan post COVID-19 pandemic.

Bhutan travel advisory/Bhutan travel requirement post COVID-19 pandemic

Once travel ban is lifted, the government would put in place certain Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for travel. Perhaps travelers to Bhutan may need to produce the COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate.

We will update here when the situation unfolds. Keep checking!