The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) COVID-19 task force has reported a decline in the number of cases among Tibetan refugees living in India and Nepal. Their weekly briefing on August 27 stated there were 55 new infections and two deaths during the previous week.
Tenzin Dolkar from the CTA’s Health Department reported that a total of 1,315 Tibetans from three different Tibetan settlements in Nepal and 13 Tibetan settlements in India were contacted for the test and that the oldest among those tested was 94 and the youngest two years old.
There have been 6,171 COVID-19 positive cases to date. Of these, 5,932 have recovered while 148 people have succumbed; there are currently 91 active cases. The committee also announced that over 21,430 Tibetans in India are fully vaccinated and more than 28,370 have received the first dose. As for Tibetans in Nepal, 3,078 are fully vaccinated and 637 have received the first dose.
CTA’s COVID-19 emergency task force team is visiting Tibetan settlements in north east India to monitor the preparation for a potential third wave of the pandemic. The team is led by Palden Dhondup, Secretary of the Department of Health who is accompanied by Dawa Phunkyi, Chief Administrator of the Tibetan Delek Hospital and Dr Tenzin Tsundue, a medical officer from Delek Hospital. The team met the task force and they addressed the general public, giving details of precautionary measures to be taken ahead of a possible third wave, reports tibet.net, the official website of the CTA.
Another COVID-19 task force team visited Tibetan settlements, monasteries and schools in Himachal Pradesh to assess the precautionary measures needed there in case of a third wave. This visit took place following advice from Sikyong Penpa Tsering and COVID Emergency Task Force advisors Dr Tseten Dorjee and Dr Tsewang Tamdin (both official physicians to His Holiness the Dalai Lama) who suggested visiting settlements and make advance preparations for a possible third wave in India.
Print
Email