With the detection of 17 fresh infections of COVID-19, the total number of cases in Bhutan touched 132, reported The Bhutanese. Capital Thimphu reported just five new cases by Saturday afternoon. 

The Ministry of Health also informed one Bhutanese living abroad also tested positive. In Paro district, ten fresh cases, all close contact of a previously positive person, were detected. 

The Himalayan nation of 765,000 people saw a surge in cases since last Saturday when a 25-year-old woman tested positive in Thimphu. Authorities have imposed a seven-day nationwide lockdown on Tuesday. 

The government is conducting mass contact tracing and testing to contain further spread of the virus. The government of Bhutan recently received 20,000 RT-PCR kits from India.  

Since March this year, the country recorded 576 cases of COVID-19. Out of them, 397 have already recovered. The country has a recovery rate of 70 percent till now. Currently, 132 people are in hospital,  the health ministry said.