Mosquitoes, leaking roofs and no toilets — amid a surge of returnees from Covid-19-stricken Thailand, quarantine centers along the border in Oddar Meanchey province are facing a shortage of facilities, migrants and the provincial administration say.
Health officials have reiterated that vaccines prevent Covid-19 deaths but not transmission, as they blamed members of the public for the country’s ongoing surge.
The Covid-19 patients who find themselves in provincial and Phnom Penh quarantine centers say they have struggled with the stress, boredom and lack of information and doctor attention during their stay, but several people said dance breaks and meditation helped them power through the confusion and anxiety.
Cases have now been announced in at least nine of the country’s 28 overcrowded prisons, as the Justice Ministry discusses measures to reduce inmate numbers by releasing those close to the end of their sentences. Ministry spokesperson Kim Santepheap said on Monday that Justice Minister Keut Rith was considering the decision.
Health Ministry spokesperson Or Vandine posted a speech on Thursday saying that 2.13 million people had been vaccinated with at least their first doses in Phnom Penh — or 99.2 percent of the city’s population. She also raised the possibility of securing third doses for people in the future.
As Covid-19 cases reach record highs, Prime Minister Hun Sen spoke for over two hours about rapid test kits being hoarded in warehouses, ventilators going unused, using Chinese herbal medicines for prevention and buying up 80 percent of all coffins in stock around the country.
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.
Preah Sihanouk police arrested and released six people accused of selling vaccination cards, though neither police nor the provincial administration would give any details of the accused individuals, including whether they could be local officials.
The northeastern province of Ratanakiri is reporting around 30 to 40 cases of Covid-19 a day, said a local official, resulting in close to 250 cases this week.
Ratanakiri authorities say they are running out of rapid tests as they track the remote province’s first major Covid-19 outbreak, imposing a curfew across the province after more than 100 cases were found in one day.
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