To assess the scale of COVID-19’s spread in the capital Thimphu, Bhutan will begin its mass testing in a phased manner. The testing will be conducted zone wise in a phased manner, starting from 15 to 19 January, reported The Bhutanese. 

Through the exercise, the Bhutanese Ministry of Health aims to gauge the area wise scale and spread of the infection. The result will enable authorities to make better decisions on unlocking and easing restrictions in the areas. 

“The objective of community testing is to assess the COVID-19 situation in the city and to facilitate phase-wise unlocking of Thimphu,” said the Ministry of Health. 

Bhutan went into a 21 days national lockdown in December last year on the discovery of community spread in the country. Since March last year, the country has conducted over 30,000 RT-PCR tests in the country. 

The health authorities in the country have also completed mass testing in 18 green districts. There is a strict restriction on the movements of people in the country. To help stranded people, the government had launched a helpline number. Around 8393 stranded people have been provided help through the government helpline number.