kathmandu wearing a baseball cap and kneelength traditional gho robe carrying a backpack bhutans king has walked through jungles infested with leeches and snakes trekked mountains and quarantined several times in a hotel in the capitalfor 14 months king jigme khesar namgyel wangchuck has been travelling by foot car and horse to remote hamlets to oversee measures to protect his tiny kingdom of 700000 from the coronavirus outbreak that has flared up in neighbouring indiathe impact of the 41yearold kings excursions are evident in a covid19 death toll of just one for the nation nestled between india and china in the eastern himalayaswhen the king travels for miles and knocks to alert people about the pandemic then his humble words are respected and taken very seriously said lotay tshering the countrys prime minister his majestys presence is far more powerful than just issuing public guidelines tshering told reuters his presence assures people they are not alone in their fight against the pandemic the prime minister saidtshering a practicing urologist often accompanies the oxfordeducated king for trips near the porous border shared with india where a second wave of the pandemic more than doubled the death toll over the last two monthsbhutan became a constitutional monarchy in 2008 when the king relinquished his absolute powers but loyalty to the royal family still dominates the nations sociopolitical landscapein recent weeks the king walked for five days on a trail passing through elevations of up to 4343 m 14250 ft to thank primary health workers in remote areasthe kings office declined a request for an interview but his social media pages on instagram and facebook showcase his work and travels during the pandemicour kings biggest fear is that if the pandemic spreads like a forest fire then our nation could be wiped out said a senior palace officiala father of two boys after every trip the king checks into a hotel in capital thimphu to follow quarantine protocols like most of his subjects he has received one vaccination dosethe king has been to all high risk border areas time and again to monitor every measure put in place and to ensure best practices are followed within limited resources said rui paulo de jesus the world health organization representative in bhutanbhutan an ancient kingdom sealed off to foreigners until the 1970s has just one doctor available for every 2000 peoplethe borders of the scenic nation are now shut again and domestic lockdowns have been imposed in some areas while screening and testing for covid19 have been stepped upprime minister tshering has said bhutan is looking to mixandmatch vaccine doses because after inoculating 90 of its eligible population with their first dose of the astrazeneca shot the nation ran out of suppliesthe deadline to administer the second dose after a gap of 12 weeks is this month and the government is seeking other supplies to deal with the shortage reporting by gopal sharma in kathmandu and rupam jain in mumbai