More than 300 Cambodians came through the O’Smach checkpoint in Oddar Meanchey — almost as many as had returned this whole month — ahead of the closing of borders with Thailand, while other border provinces prepared curfews and lockdown restrictions.
Commune authorities said on Thursday they would ban dining in at restaurants but allow alcohol sales for drinking at home, as a Phnom Penh councilor explained the need for heightened vigilance against the looming Covid-19 Delta variant despite a lull in local infections.
Phnom Penh is banning gatherings with alcohol or with more than 10 people, as well as going out after 9 p.m., following a nationwide order for municipal and provincial authorities to implement the measures to stop the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19, while eight border provinces will also enter three-tiered lockdown tonight for two weeks.
As much as 25 percent of migrant workers coming back from Covid-stricken Thailand are testing positive, according to provincial authorities, as some returnees said they believe they are contracting the disease in crowded quarantine centers along the border.
Several Phnom Penh communes say they have recorded a rise in non-Covid-19 deaths this year, while a clinic and hospital say their patient numbers are down significantly as people choose self-treatment amid pandemic fears.
After 15 months with sparse international tourists, handicraft vendors in Siem Reap say they’re barely covering their expenses and fear the future if tourism doesn’t return.
Leung Sophon, rights group Central’s Thailand-based project officer, said routine testing at workers’ residences — which have been hotspots in the country’s ongoing Covid-19 surge — haven’t been reported for over a week.
As tens of thousands of Covid-19 cases mount across the country, lives inside Cambodia’s pagodas have become marked by caution and practical concerns — more cooking and fewer ceremonies — while creating a void of Buddhist teachings for the nation, monks said.
Twenty-six female inmates at the Siem Reap Provincial Prison have further tested positive for Covid-19, as family members of jailed rapper Kea Sokun as well as opposition activist Mao Sarin said they hadn’t seen their jailed relatives in months and were concerned for their health.
Cambodia’s vaccination campaign will be extended to adolescents as young as 12 for greater immunity and with an eye on reopening schools, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Friday, as a government document also advised businesses to randomly test employees for Covid-19.
VOD is an independent media outlet producing radio programs and disseminating information to the public via the Internet.
© 2019 VOD. All Rights Reserved.
