“Bhutan had trusted, smart, and hands-on direction from its king, whose moral authority carries great weight. He explicitly told government leaders that even one death from COVID would be too much for a small nation that regards itself as a family” https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2021/02/coronavirus-pandemic-bhutan/617976/

Don’t give me any guff about “small countries”. Bhutan has a 140 mile land border with India, one of the most infected countries. It had one PCR machine. 1 ICU specialist.

We have to have the humility to learn from the smallest and poorest (& Bhutan is not alone).

The King pressed officials for detailed plans covering every possible pandemic scenario, made multiple trips to the front lines, encouraging health workers, volunteers..sidetracking any political gamesmanship; in Bhutan, the opposition in Parl joined forces with the ruling party

It is a UN listed least developed country but it situates happ ai Res at the core of its culture.

And it acted swiftly to defend its citizens, started screening at its border on 15th Jan.

6th March 2020: First case, an American tourist.

Six hours and 18 minutes later 300 contacts and contacts of contacts and maybe contacts had been traced.

The 76 yr old tourist was airlifted to the USA and survived.

Clear consist daily updates occurred from that point on.

Tourists. Barred
Schools, public institutions, gyms and cinemas all closed.

Flexible working started.

Endless public health messaging about face masks, hand washing and social distancing.

Mandatory quarantining.

The Gov underwrote every aspect, such as free accommodation and meals in tourist-level hotels. It isolated all positive cases, even those who were asymptomatic, in medical facilities, so early symptoms could be treated immediately

It provided psychological counseling for those in quarantine and isolation.

And it extended the quarantine period from 14 days to 21 days as 14 days still left an 11% risk.

It launched a large relief fund to support those needing financial assistance and sent care packages out.

Government officials modelled altruism when too many in our Parliament and the USA were bellowing out Me Me ME! MY Freedom.

Let’s learn from those who have done so much better not despite being so much poorer but especially because they are so much poorer.

But so much wiser. More resilient. More effective, decisive and clear thinking.

“Pandemic resilience, he said, came from “things that we don’t count normally, like your social capital and the willingness of society to come together for the common good.”

You can’t spend years dividing a country, setting groups against one another, insulting them & get that.