The Bhutan government has eased Covid-19 norms for people visiting the country on work, replacing the five-day quarantine with a test-and-go system.

On July 3, the Prime Minister’s office of Bhutan released a statement introducing the new system. “Under the new system, a person on work entering Bhutan via land borders like Phuentsholing, Gelephu and Samdrupjonkhar, or flying into Paro have to give swab samples for RT-PCR tests. The test report will come within 24 hours and during this period, one has to stay isolated in a home or hotel quarantine. If the sample is found negative, the traveller can head to his destination, provided he is vaccinated,” said a source, adding that if found positive, the person had to be in quarantine for five days.

In March 2020, as Covid cases were reported in Bhutan, the country stopped the entry of foreigners. This March, entry of foreigners via air started but with a 21-day quarantine. Later, quarantine was reduced to five days and entry through land borders was permitted for those on work. Still, Indian workers in Bhutan found it tough to bear the cost of staying for five days in quarantine, said a trader in Jaigaon on the India-Bhutan border.

Tourists who seek to visit Bhutan via land borders, however, have to wait for another two-and-a-half months.

“For tourists, the country will open its land borders on September-end. We hope there is no steep surge in Covid-19 cases as hundreds of Indians go to Bhutan during Durga Puja and Diwali holidays,” said Samrat Sanyal, general secretary, Himalayan Hospitality and Tourism Development Network, an apex body of tourism stakeholders in north Bengal.