Police patrol the Main Square in McLeod Ganj to enforce complete lockdown of the Himalayan village as part of drastic measures to fight the spread of coronavirus after the first casualty of the virus in the area, in McLeod Ganj, India, on 23 March 2020. Tibet Sun/Contributor
Tibet Sun Online News
ON THE WEB, 23 March 2020
A 69-year-old man became the first person in Himachal Pardesh state, as well as the first Tibetan, to die of coronavirus at a hospital in Dharamshala.
RD Dhiman, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare of the state of Himachal Pradesh, informed the public of the death in a press statement.
The deceased was identified as Tenzin Choephel, owner of Himalaya Hotel on Bhagsu road in McLeod Ganj. He had returned from a US along with his wife to on 15 March.
After staying a few days in Delhi, Choephel had returned to McLeod by taxi on 21 March. On the morning of the 23rd he complained of respiratory problems, and was brought to a private hospital in Kangra. He was then taken to Tanda government hospital, where he died.
Suspecting a coronavirus infection, the hospital carried out a test which was found to be positive. All the staff members who came in contact with him at the hospital have been quarantined. All others who he came in contact with have been identified and put in isolation, including the taxi driver from Delhi.
Choephel’s son Tenzin Deden posted this status on his Facebook: “Please take care of your elders and children. They are the most vulnerable to this virus. I lost my most precious one to this virus. Please, please stay safe everyone.”
The Superintendant of Police of Kangra District announced the total lockdown of McLeod Ganj, in which no one is allowed to enter or leave the town, and must remain in their houses. Police personnel have been deployed in the area to enforce the shutdown.
The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) have taken measures to stop the spread of the virus, which has caused global health concerns. CTA President Lobsang Sangay announced reduction of staff to more than 50% at the offices of the administration by suggesting work-from-home arrangements.
Other measures, such as closure of Tibetan monasteries, schools. and elder care homes in India, Nepal, and Bhutan, had already been announced earlier.
Himachal Pradesh has two suspected carriers of the virus, both locals of Shahpur, near Dharamshala. They are a 32-year-old man who had travelled from Dubai, and a 64-year-old woman travelling from Singapore. Their test results are awaited.
Tibet Sun has not been able to establish the situation in Tibet due to the restrictions on flow of information by the Chinese government. Lobsang Sangay said earlier this month that he suspected there were more than 100 coronavirus cases in Tibet.
Following the coronavirus outbreak which started in Wuhan, China, in early December, more than 351,300 people have been infected across the world and over 15,300 have died, according to a Reuters tally. The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak a pandemic on 11 March 2020.
Hello! What if the 68-year-old person who died with the disease named COVID-19 after the report coming from Pune’s national laboratory as Negative with COVID-19, what then???? Who will take the responsibility for causing all this panic and unnecessary hassle among so many people concern and within the society and community at large.
As per our knowledge and information, the actual confirmation report of COVID-19 result or confirmation takes 48 hours. Since the person died on the 23rd and it’s only the 25th today, and if the authority concerned has followed the report and sent the sample to Pune for scientific confirmation, than by tomorrow or day after tomorrow the result will be there. Let’s hope and pray!
It is a responsibility of the Tibetan Administration based in Dharamshala to get an official confirmation report from Pune’s national laboratory for the reason that a Tibetan man without any medical documentation proof died of Covid-19. It is spreading panic and rumours within society and breaking tranquility amongst the community.
We demand that the CTA (health department) procure/produce the original medical report for the exact reason for death of that Tibetan man.
Now i hear there’s another [Tibetan] man who has died in London. Very sad to hear the news especially since we are so less in number overall. I hope the family and friends are safe and getting the right care.
There is no denying that WHO has been too slow in its reaction to the outbreak. WHO was made aware of the human-to-human transmission of this virus by Taiwan by the end of December, but WHO kept defending China, who wasn’t sharing enough reliable info. Taiwan has accused WHO of failing to communicate to its member countries. But since Taiwan is not an independent member of the WHO and WHO is acting at the behest of China, the WHO failed to do the right thing. Now the WHO executive director is relying on India, saying “India Led the World in eradicating two silent killers, important that they lead the way,” “India has tremendous capacity to combat COVID-19,” etc. Unfortunately Italy and Iran are suffering the most because of the OBOR [One Belt One Road] project. Both have investment from China, and many Chinese workers, tourists, and students are coming in to these countries.
An Italian virologist has lamented that political correctness doomed his country’s Coronavirus response. He stated that there was a proposal to isolate people coming from the epicentre, coming from China, but the government balked at the idea of singling out people coming from China out of concern it could be construed as racist. Even the “Hug a Chinese day” project promoted by CCP mouthpiece CGTN went on for days after many tested [positive] for the virus.
Now it remains to be seen how it plays out in other countries. Every country is handling it in their own way. India of course with the huge population and limited healthcare services is taking the right step in the total lockdown for 21 days.