Poor students were forced to find work to help their families through the pandemic. Now that schools have reopened, some may never step into a classroom again.
Both Nhung, 61, and Sok, 46, have lived their whole lives in Cambodia except to escape Khmer Rouge purges against ethnic Vietnamese. Now, alongside hundreds, they have been evicted from floating homes here, some told to cross a border blockaded by Vietnamese ships.
Covid-19 is spreading across the country’s provinces as daily cases and deaths both hit record highs on Wednesday, as a governmental committee considers the situation to have reached a “red line,” a spokesperson said.
After City Hall threatened to evict residents living on floating houses with less than two weeks of notice, the families are torn on what to do, some rapidly disassembling their floating houses and others stalling for time ahead of Saturday’s deadline.
Storm surges this month have ripped through a fishing community on the riverbanks of Phnom Penh, sinking boats, belongings and stores of food. Amid warnings of intensifying storms amid climate change, the families, who live on boats along the shore, speak of their anxieties about the future, and say they can only endure.
After a month of fasting, Phnom Penh’s Muslim community would normally gather at mosques for meals and prayers through the night. But as Ramadan this year nears its end, mosques remain shuttered as a public health measure, and members of the community say they will celebrate alone.
Several communes in Phnom Penh and most of Takhmao City will have lockdown restrictions eased starting Thursday, authorities have announced.
Journalists broadcasting from red zones, following ambulances or making misleading conclusions “without clear background” will face legal action, the Information Ministry said on Tuesday, as a spokesperson explained that the measures were needed as some had made reports without first verifying with relevant parties.
The government late Monday announced an end to the lockdowns of Phnom Penh and Takhmao city starting Thursday, to be replaced with measures to be decided by municipal and provincial governors.
Phnom Penh continues to see the bulk of new cases: 2,934 were announced in the past week. And Pur Senchey and Meanchey districts remain the worst-hit areas in the capital, recording 852 and 656 new cases for the week, according to City Hall data compiled by VOD.
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