BHUTAN AS AN EXEMPLAR MODEL FOR COVID-19 MANAGEMENT

This paper attempts to study the success story of a tiny Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan which has been able to wedge worldwide attention and appreciations for having the lowest COVID-19 case-counts and fatalities. Bhutan has so far accomplished to keep the ‘invisible enemy’ at bay despite of being a low middle income, developing and vulnerable landlocked country having porous border with India and nascent health care system. So, this paper will look into Bhutan’s pandemic trajectory, preventive measures, preparedness and responses until now. It will explore Bhutan’s COVID-19 management strategies since the onset of the outbreak from two levels: 1) instantaneous policy responses and extraordinary leadership roles of its Constitutional and political heads and; 2) Bhutanese commitment in offering multifarious community support in battling with the pandemic. It will also evaluate the determinants of Bhutan’s COVID-19 resilience despite of facing many challenges. The methodology adopted in this paper is content analysis of facts, data and materials available from both primary and secondary sources.