Bhutan on Friday confirmed its second case of coronavirus after the partner of the first COVID-19 case in the country tested positive.
The first patient who had been first tested positive for coronavirus in Bhutan is a 76-year-old tourist from the United States of America, who visited India, including Assam.
He had reached Jorhat in eastern Assam on February 22 and took a week-long luxury cruise ride on the Brahmaputra to Guwahati.
Bhutan Prime Minister Lotay Tshering on Friday said that three persons who had come in contact with the US tourist were kept on quarantine and regular tests were being conducted on them.
“The test was carried out as part of the quarantine process where everybody gets checked to determine the status before the release. The three primary contacts- the partner, guide and driver, finish their quarantine period today,” he added.
He also said that the guide and the driver of the US tourist were tested negative.
The 59-year-old patient will now be monitored in an isolation facility from Friday.
Tshering also said that the driver and the guide will have to be under home quarantine and report immediately should they notice any signs and symptoms.
They will also be offered the option of staying in the isolation facility if they wish, he added.
“This was the fourth test run on the primary contacts since the detection of first case on March 5. All earlier three tests resulted in a negative,” he added.
Bhutan reported its first case of coronavirus on March 5.
The patient had entered the country from Paro International Airport, after embarking Drukair flight KB241 from Guwahati on March 2.