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.
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.
Phnom Penh has been at the center of the recent Covid-19 outbreak, reporting more than 2,000 cases in the past week, according to Phnom Penh City Hall data. The outbreak has spread rapidly through the city’s markets and factories — leading to the country’s first lockdown and the creation of “red zones.”
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.
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.
Hundreds of questions flooded a messaging group set up by Phnom Penh City Hall after the city was put under lockdown, with some answers provided about traveling for vaccines, cycling around neighborhoods, and necessary documentation.
Violators of Covid-19 public health measures should be arrested one day and put on trial the next, Prime Minister Hun Sen said, ordering the creation of a special court to crack down on those who flout travel bans and other orders.
In a speech Saturday morning, Prime Minister Hun Sen said the country had recorded 483 more Covid-19 cases following a record 576 new cases announced on Friday.
The Health Ministry on Saturday reported 99 new cases of Covid-19 across the capital and six provinces, adding that four people died from the virus on Friday.
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