COVID-19 weekly briefing: CTA reports 32 positive cases, 2 deaths
DHARAMSALA, 29 Oct: The COVID- 19 Task Force of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) reported 32 positive cases among exiled Tibetans in India over the past seven days.
“A total of 32 COVID-19 positive cases were reported in the last seven days after testing 236 Tibetans from 10 Tibetan settlements in India and 6 Tibetans from 2 Tibetan settlements in Nepal,” Dr Tsering Tsamchoe said during the committee’s weekly briefing.
The committee also reported two deaths due to COVID-19 in the past week.
The tally now stands at 6,736 COVID-19 positive cases to date out of which 6,528 have recovered with 53 active cases and 155 deaths.
The committee maintained that the cases are mostly from Dharamsala jurisdiction along with Bylakuppee and Mundgod Tibetan settlement.
Dr Tsamchoe further informed that a total of 267 exiled Tibetans from 9 Tibetan settlements in India and 2 from Nepal were under quarantine this week. While 85 of them are under home quarantine, another 182 are under institutional quarantine.
She further urged for caution during the festival seasons and called on the Tibetan Sweater Sellers’ Association to maintain safety and precautions throughout the season as the business season has just started.
The committee said that 94.7 per cent of exiled Tibetans in India are fully vaccinated. A total of 44078 Tibetans in India have received both doses while 7228 Tibetans have received the first dose.
The vaccination rate of Tibetans in Nepal remains the same as last week at 82.60 per cent.
Dr Tenzin Tsundue from Delek Hospital said that some elder Tibetans have opted against vaccinating fearing side effects and assured them of the benefits of the vaccine and urged them to get vaccinated.
With schools opening up coupled with the festive seasons, he urged the Tibetans to not let their guards down and continue to exercise caution by following the standard guidelines by wearing masks, keeping social distancing, and washing hands regularly.
Since its outbreak in Wuhan in late 2019, the pandemic has infected 245,526,421 people and killed 4,981,428 people globally according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
India continues to sit as the 5th country worst hit by the pandemic in the world with 34,246,157 cases to date and 457,191 deaths.
