UPDATED April 30 — Phnom Penh City Hall added two villages in Toul Kork district to its list of red zones and two villages in the same district to orange as of April 29.
UPDATED 11:48 a.m. — The government has extended Phnom Penh and Takhmao city’s lockdowns until May 5, it announced in a decision issued late Monday.
Tens of thousands of workers in Phnom Penh’s worker dormitories say they concerned about Covid-19, but also strained by hunger and boredom a week into their homes becoming “red zones.”
All public and informal markets in Phnom Penh are to be closed from Saturday, City Hall has announced, though some remained open — and were drawing many shoppers — as of the morning.
Brick walls and barbed wire divide Pu Rang village now, says Tha Vy. When an outsider buys up the peak of a hillside, the local predominantly Bunong residents often can no longer even get to their traditional farmlands.
Some vegetable growers in Kandal province say their produce is rotting in their fields as Phnom Penh markets are shut down for the Covid-19 lockdown and traders face a crackdown by continuing to sell in violation of public health measures.
Vegetable sales in Stung Meanchey, now declared a “red zone,” was happening secretly in houses, sellers said, while a commune chief said he was cracking down on the 60 Meter wholesale trade, confiscating carts and taking “serious action” to prevent public disorder.
Five people have been sentenced to one year in prison in Kampong Cham and Takeo provinces for violating the Covid-19 Law after drinking in groups against public health protocols, amid a slew of arrests across the country for parties, illegal travel, not wearing masks and breaking curfew.
Local-level authorities are navigating the enforcement of Phnom Penh and Takhmao city’s tightening lockdown rules amid an ongoing Covid-19 surge, saying commuters need permits but delivery drivers do not, and limited outdoor exercise is being allowed while preserving safety.
Phnom Penh City Hall declared four communes and three villages in the locked down capital as “red zones” under a new decree made public on Monday, requiring that even food sellers are closed down.
VOD is an independent media outlet producing radio programs and disseminating information to the public via the Internet.
© 2019 VOD. All Rights Reserved.
