Twenty Months Into the Pandemic: No SARS-CoV-2 Infections Among Health Care Workers Managing COVID-19 Cases in Bhutan

Abstract

There is no international reporting of SARS-CoV-2 infections in health care workers (HCWs). Estimates suggest that a HCW dies every thirty minutes from COVID-19. This worsened the shortages and burnout of HCWs worldwide. Twenty months into the pandemic, Bhutan recorded over 2600 COVID-19 positive cases and three deaths. About 906 HCWs were directly involved in managing these laboratory confirmed cases but no infections occured amongst this group. This zero infection was possible through the clustered management of positive cases in four national COVID-19 centers, strategic deployment of HCWs, the uninterrupted provision of quality personal protectiPPE and repeated training on the correct use of PPE. This is an exemplary achievement for a small country with limited expertise and resources.

Collective responsibility and environmental caretaking: toward an ecological care ethic with evidence from Bhutan

“…Bhutan's public health response emphasized competence, adopting high standards for nonpharmaceutical interventions. For example, despite more than 2600 positive cases and three deaths in the first year and a half of the pandemic, Bhutan's 906 healthcare workers involved in C-19 care remained infection free, an outcome attributed to the ready availability of full suites of personal protective equipment (PPE), including certified N95 respirators, goggles, and face shields; frequent training on their use; as well as clustered management of Covid cases at four national Covid centers (Tshokey et al 2021b). The provision of appropriate PPE preserved the well-being of the precious human resources that healthcare workers (HCWs) represent.…”