Between China, country from which the coronavirus spread to the rest of the world, and India, second in number of total cases (more than 11 million) only behind the United States, there is a small territory that is resisting the onslaught of SARS-CoV-2: it is Bhutan.
Like that irreducible Gallic village before the Roman Empire, the nearly 800,000 Bhutanese from a country located in the upper Himalayas see how the coronavirus has barely made a dent in them.
Registering only 867 cases to date and a single death: a man with previous liver and kidney problems lost his life in the past January 7 in the capital, Timbu. The maximum number of cases was reached on January 10, with 39 registered infections according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
This is how Bhutan has managed to mitigate the impact
The situation turns into a feat when more is known about the means of the Asian country to fight the health situation. According Noreasth Now, in Bhutan there are only 337 doctors for a total of about 760,000 inhabitants, while the entire health staff barely reaches 3,000.
In addition, they only have a machine with which to analyze PCR tests.
One of the fundamental pillars for a good and effective response was undoubtedly the position on the virus of the king of the Kingdom of Bhutan, official name of the territory.
“The health and safety of the people of Bhutan is of the highest priority and as such we are implementing all necessary measures to safeguard the people of Bhutan” were the words of Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck in his first speech to the nation in March 2020.
He even went so far as to say that one death would be too much for a nation that considers itself a family.
Four days after becoming a father, he went on tour to meet local authorities and frontline workers to find out about the measures carried out to stop the pandemic.
Since March 23, the country’s borders have been closed and since then there have been two total closures. To make up for losses, loans were deferred and interest waived.