The Health Ministry is discouraging people from traveling to high-risk Covid-19 areas during the Khmer New Year and suggests reducing gatherings, drinking, dancing and singing, stopping short of banning festivities amid the country’s worst coronavirus outbreak to date.
Some of the country’s Covid-19 patients are developing respiratory problems too quickly for doctors to address, the Health Ministry said on Thursday as it announced five deaths in two days from the disease, including a 28-year-old woman.
Newly arrived Sinovac vaccines will be given to 745,000 preregistered people, mostly government officials, doctors and employees at selected workplaces, starting Thursday, the Health Ministry said.
A man with a high fever took a Covid-19 test and hoped for treatment, but died on Saturday before the test returned and a space could open at Phnom Penh’s health centers.
Cambodia has replenished its Covid-19 vaccine stores with 1.5 million doses of China’s Sinovac-produced vaccine, the first vaccine purchased by the government rather than being donated.
UPDATED — The Health Ministry has announced that people must wear masks in public gatherings of two or more people in areas facing an outbreak, as the Phnom Penh governor said authorities would begin working on educating residents about the rules before handing out penalties.
The Health Ministry reiterated Thursday that social distancing, masks, washing hands and avoiding large gatherings are still necessary despite vaccinations to stem the spread of Covid-19, after three soldiers tested positive despite receiving inoculations.
Prime Minister Hun Sen asked all provinces to suspend wedding ceremonies following Covid-19 scares in several locations, while the government issued another sub-decree outlining penalties for violating health measures.
Covid-19 patients in Cambodia have been treated with hydroxychloroquine, a health official said, even though medical researchers last year dismissed the drug as a treatment for Covid-19, and the WHO this week said it should not be used to prevent or treat coronavirus.
A Chinese man with Covid-19 died in quarantine in Phnom Penh on Thursday, the Health Ministry said, but ruled his death “due to drug overdose” after an autopsy. In a Facebook post, the ministry further clarified that “there was no drug use” and the death was caused by serious withdrawal symptoms and not Covid-19.
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