THIMPHU, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The government of Bhutan said that it will allow individuals to pay for the facility quarantine and bear costs for the RT-PCR test for COVID-19 starting Oct. 1.
It was announced through a statement at the weekend, which also stated that the decision was made during its 31st meeting of National COVID-19 task force.
The decision came after receiving an overwhelming offers from the general public travelling within the country to make payments for the mandatory quarantine they have undergone, according to the statement.
It also stated that all individuals opting to pay themselves could choose hotels for quarantine from among those identified by the regional and district COVID-19 task force at negotiated rates.
Till date, the government has been bearing all the expenses for quarantine facilities including food, accommodation and all other services and also providing free testing for the virus.
"However, the government will continue to support rooms, basic meals and cost for RT-PCR, taking into consideration that not all travellers can afford the cost," said the statement.
All travellers from high risk to low-risk areas will have to complete seven days of facility quarantine and undergo RT-PCR test. After testing negative, the travellers will be released from quarantine. However, the National COVID-19 task force urged people to refrain from travelling to high-risk areas, unless in unavoidable circumstances.
Meanwhile, seven new positive COVID-19 cases have been detected in the last 24 hours as of Tuesday. Six were identified as men aged between 24 to 42 from a follow-up mass screening of Indian people at Phuentsholing town. Besides, a 32-year old woman was detected positive during at a flu clinic in Phuentsholing.
This took the total positive COVID-19 cases to 280 with 70 recorded as active case and 210 declared as recovered. Enditem
