With no new COVID-19 cases for a week, residents in buffer zones and gewogs in Paro - Bhutan's valley town where its only international airport is located - started moving out of their homes yesterday.

Except for farmers working in the fields and herding cattle, there was no rush in stores nor people loitering in the open space.

Jitsiphu, which is the hub for shoppers in Tsento gewog, saw only a few customers.

Khandu Wangmo rushed to a nearby grocery store to buy some goods for her four-year-old child. She said that it was convenient to visit the shops and buy the required things rather than ordering it through service delivery.

“As service delivery is only for essential goods, we don’t get the things as per our desire.”

Besides, another resident said that it usually took two to three days for the ordered goods to reach home. “Easing the lockdown has been of immense help.”

Paro dzongkhag administration distributed movement cards to residents in the buffer zone on Wednesday.

https://kuenselonline.com/paro-relaxes-lockdown-outside-towns/