President Dr. Lobsang Sangay of Central Tibetan Administration. Photo/Tenzin Jigme/CTA
Dharamshala: The President of Central Tibetan Administration Dr. Lobsang Sangay addressed a press briefing today on the current status of Wuhan-origin COVID-19 pandemic in the Tibetan community.
The press briefing highlighted four key points: the situation of Tibetans dealing with coronavirus in New York and India; special notice for overseas Tibetans in India; inputs and suggestions from the President for the TSGs, elderly and young members of Tibetan community in overcoming physical and mental distress during the lockdown.
As for the situation in New York, President Dr Sangay said over 16 Tibetan health workers in the city have self-quarantined themselves to prevent the spread of the virus in the community. He clarified that not all of them have contracted the virus but due to probable exposure to infected patients, they have self-quarantined as a precaution.
He urged Tibetans worldwide to pray for all the health workers on the frontline for their selfless contributions.
“I on behalf of CTA and Tibetans around the world like to highly thank and applaud health care workers across the globe for their selfless contributions during this crisis,” he said.
President highlighted the tremendous services being offered by the Tibetan community in North America and Europe in regard to especially looking after the mental well-being of health care workers by organising online teaching sessions with Buddhist teachers and geshes.
He added that similar sessions featuring Buddhist experts and meditation teachers are also being organised through TibetTV for the older people where they are offered advice and mechanism for dealing with stress and anxiety related to the novel pandemic.
Similarly, President Sangay also informed that the prescriptions of rilbus (Tibetan medicinal pills) by former personal physician to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Dr. Tamding Tsewang are being distributed in the Tibetan communities. The supplements help recover fatigue, sleep deprivation and build immunity.
President then issued a special notice for the overseas Tibetans in India to immediately get tested in case any symptoms occur. In addition to that, concerns regarding visa expiration of those of overseas Tibetans must be contacted to local settlement officer and representative officer.
Lastly, he advised the students to make constructive use of the lockdown period in their studies.