Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, went into a complete lockdown on Sunday after a 25-year-old woman, who visited a flu clinic at the National Referral Hospital in the city, tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Prime Minister Lotay Tshering announced the lockdown within Thimphu city with immediate effect and asked everyone to remain home, reports Xinhua news agency.

Tshering said all outbound travellers from Thimphu are restricted and only emergencies and important movements into the capital city will be considered and allowed.

He said the Health Ministry would be conducting intensive contact tracing.

The lockdown is expected to enable health officials to trace and test all possible contacts.

"A primary contact had also travelled to various places in western and central parts of the country with multiple stops on the way," said the Prime Minister.

Depending on the degree of transmission, relaxations will be initiated over the coming days.

The Prime Minister also announced that there would be no deliveries for 72 hours as there is a complete lockdown.

All essential deliveries will resume only after 72 hours.

Bhutan has so far reported 443 confirmed coronavirus cases with no deaths.

(IANS)