UPDATED 10 p.m. — Travel between provinces has been banned for two weeks from Wednesday through April 20, spanning the Khmer New Year holidays amid the country’s worst Covid-19 outbreak to date, the government announced in a statement late Tuesday.
Some of the country’s Covid-19 patients are developing respiratory problems too quickly for doctors to address, the Health Ministry said on Thursday as it announced five deaths in two days from the disease, including a 28-year-old woman.
Three Mother Nature environmentalists — arrested while preparing a video campaign against the infilling of Phnom Penh’s Boeng Tamok lake — disputed the alleged criminality of their actions while on trial on Wednesday, arguing that raising concerns is not “incitement” as charged, their lawyer said.
Cambodia reported its second death from Covid-19 on Friday, eight days after its first official death was announced on March 11 and about a month into the largest community outbreak the country has seen.
As crowds have packed some hospitals in hopes of getting Covid-19 shots, the Health Ministry suspended vaccinations for people aged 59 and under, saying remaining Sinopharm shots would be used as second doses for people who have already received one jab.
Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Tuesday that in the event of the death of Covid-19 patients, the bodies will need to be cremated. He ordered that Phnom Penh and provincial authorities make sure they have crematoriums ready in preparation.
Updated 3:51 p.m. — The country recorded 24 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, putting the total found since the start of the pandemic at 1,011, as Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered that patients be transferred out of the Phnom Penh Quarantine Center where a man died on Thursday and some patients spoke of poor care.
Covid-19 patients in Cambodia have been treated with hydroxychloroquine, a health official said, even though medical researchers last year dismissed the drug as a treatment for Covid-19, and the WHO this week said it should not be used to prevent or treat coronavirus.
More than 10,000 Phnom Penh residents are in Covid-19 quarantine, with 74 buildings locked down, following widespread contract tracing and testing into the “February 20” cluster, Phnom Penh governor Khuong Sreng said on Tuesday.
Authorities have been unable to locate two people who tested positive for Covid-19 for three days since their results came back, Health Ministry spokesperson Or Vandine said on Friday.
Phnom Penh City Hall has told businesses to stop selling alcoholic beverages, just days before the Khmer New Year and after Cambodia recorded its single highest daily tally of Covid-19 infections on Friday.
Footage Shows Tycoon’s Domestic Violence Against… Mar 16, 8:14 pm 
Cambodia ‘on the Brink of a National Tragedy’: WHO Apr 10, 2:01 pm 
All Sequenced ‘February 20’ Cases Are ‘UK’ Covid-19… Mar 18, 9:24 pm Opinion: Domestic Violence in Elite Families Is… Mar 19, 5:32 pm 
NagaWorld Workers Campaign Against Suspended Salaries Mar 23, 12:21 pm 
VOD is a local independent media outlet producing radio programs and disseminating information to the public via the Internet.
© 2019 VOD. All Rights Reserved.
