COVID-19 weekly briefing: CTA reports 55 positive cases, 1 death in past week
DHARAMSALA, 14 Oct: The COVID- 19 Task Force of the Central Tibetan Administration(CTA) reported 55 positive cases among exiled Tibetans in India over the past seven days.
“The 55 COVID-19 positive cases were reported in the last seven days after testing 437 Tibetans from 14 Tibetan settlements in India and 1 from Tibetan settlements in Nepal,” Dr Tsering Tsamchoe said during the committee’s weekly briefing.
Of the lot, the eldest among them was 93 and the youngest a 22 years old. The committee also reported one death due to the COVID -19 infection.
The tally now stands at 6,668 COVID-19 positive cases to date out of which 6,417 have recovered with 99 active cases and 152 deaths.
Dr Tsamchoe further informed that a total of 412 exiled Tibetans from 13 Tibetan settlements in India and 1 from Nepal were under quarantine this week. While 156 of them are under home quarantine, another 256 are under institutional quarantine.
The committee declared that Dharamsala jurisdiction along with Bylakuppee and Mundgod Tibetan settlement still remains the hot spot of the COVID-19 cases among the exiled Tibetan community.
Dr Tenzin Tsundue from Delek Hospital called on the Tibetans to get tested at the earliest as he says this will not only improve the chances of overcoming the COVID-19 with treatment but also help to contain it.
With the schools opening up, he urged the teachers and administrators to ensure good ventilation in classrooms or to hold the classes out in the open as a precautionary measure.
The committee announced the vaccination rate of the exiled Tibetans in India at 94.34 per cent. A total of 39,984 Tibetans in India have received both doses while 11,467 Tibetans are partially vaccinated.
The vaccination rate of Tibetans in Nepal stands has increased from 51.41 per cent to 82.60 per cent in the past seven days. A total of 6,697 Tibetans are fully vaccinated and another 51 have received their first jab.
Deputy Secretary of Health Department Tenzin Kunsang warned the Tibetans against complacency with the festival seasons around the corner and 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 239,241,539 people and killed 4,875,011 people globally according to data from Johns Hopkins University. India is the 4th country worst hit by the pandemic in the world with 34,020,730 cases to date and 451,435 deaths.
