Tourism in Bhutan and COVID-19’s Lasting Impacts
THIMPU, Bhutan — The Kingdom of Bhutan is a small country landlocked between India and China. The country is well known for its Gross National Happiness Index and for being the only carbon-negative economy in the world. Bhutan has preserved both its culture and natural habitat throughout the rapidly globalized times. As a country that greatly limits outside influence, tourism in Bhutan has become both an economic boon and a bane.
COVID-19 in Bhutan
After the COVID-19 pandemic first exploded across the globe, Bhutan decided to close its international borders. Bhutan finalized this decision after a visiting American tourist tested positive for the virus. After banning tourism, Bhutan’s government also issued a mandatory three-week quarantine for any residents returning from abroad. These limitations initially worked for the country. By the end of the summer, Bhutan had approximately 100 confirmed cases and no fatalities, making it the safest country in Southeast Asia in terms of case totals.
Despite these efforts, the government decided to initiate its first national lockdown after a new internal case had appeared. A woman who had returned from Kuwait tested negative after waiting out the mandatory quarantine period; a few weeks later though, she tested positive for the virus. She had come into contact with not only her family but countless residents between these two tests.
Officials could not tell if she was a dormant carrier or if she caught it from someone else within the country. The government issued a statement clarifying that the reason behind the sudden lockdown was to “identify and isolate all positive cases” in order to prevent more transmission from unknown sources.
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