Garment factories have taken precautions in an effort to prevent Covid-19 from spreading down assembly lines. But workers and labor advocates say they are concerned the cramped trucks that ferry workers to factories could be potential hot spots for infection.
About 800 samples were tested for Covid-19 in Cambodia last week — less than half of the number tested the week before — while Health Ministry and WHO representatives on Monday said that the country remains at risk for outbreaks and needs to adjust to a “new normal.”
A sweeping state of emergency bill, which critics say would hand the government excessive powers during an ill-defined national crisis, was signed into law on Wednesday, an official said.
On the front lines of Cambodia’s fight against Covid-19, the five-man team responsible for disposing of all of Phnom Penh’s medical waste says they are poorly equipped, uninsured and at risk of infection, but few recognize the challenges they face.
Nearly 100,000 workers’ jobs are in danger as garment factories suspend employees amid the ongoing economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a Labor Ministry official predicting garment exports will nosedive this year.
After the National Bank suggested lenders cut struggling borrowers a break, some financial institutions say they are relieving customers affected by Covid-19 disruptions on a case-by-case basis. But civil society groups say the measures won’t offer debt relief quickly enough.
Health authorities and experts on Monday warned citizens to remain vigilant and keep up precautions against Covid-19, despite no new cases being reported in the country for 15 consecutive days and only three patients remaining in quarantine.
Workers who were told to isolate at home as a Covid-19 precaution said they would accept orders to take time off. But with more garment factories suspending production due to reduced orders, some workers worry their leave will be extended indefinitely.
Ahead of a constitutional review of the state of emergency draft law, a Justice Ministry official again defended the sweeping legislation, saying it would not violate citizens’ rights despite concerns raised by the U.N. and civil society.
After more than a week of no new Covid-19 cases reported in the country, the World Health Organization’s representative said the Health Ministry had been advised to increase testing and contact tracing while Cambodia was still in an early stage of the global pandemic.
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