A survey of vulnerable communities in Phnom Penh has found a large majority of respondents reporting difficulties with food shortages, loss of incomes and feelings of helplessness during the city’s lockdown.
Over 100 drivers and red-zone residents on dozens of vans were stopped from leaving Phnom Penh, and two of them later tested positive for Covid-19, authorities said.
The Health Ministry is withholding Covid-19 case details under leaders’ instructions, as they are kept at the provincial level, preparing them nationally could take too long, neighboring countries also give only broad totals, and officials want to do more analysis, a spokesperson said.
Some provincial authorities are taking extra precautions with the hopes of preventing Covid-19 transmission after the government relaxed lockdowns in Phnom Penh and Takhmao and crowds departed the cities on Thursday.
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.
Orn Ratha, 23, a resident of Sen Sok district’s Phnom Penh Thmey commune, says he feels liberated after his area entered “yellow”-level lockdown from Thursday.
More than 1,600 workers from 206 factories have tested positive across the country, the government said at a press conference Wednesday, with thousands of others placed in quarantine.
Following hundreds of arrests, at least 102 people are facing court charges for Covid-19 violations, including more than a dozen put on trial without a lawyer after the accused chose to represent themselves in their misdemeanor cases, according to court officials.
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.”
VOD is an independent media outlet producing radio programs and disseminating information to the public via the Internet.
© 2019 VOD. All Rights Reserved.
