Nearly 1,000 migrant workers and truck drivers tested positive for Covid-19 out of a total of around 10,000 tested between July 1-11 in the Thailand-bordering provinces of Battambang and Oddar Meanchey, according to provincial authorities.
In Battambang, deputy provincial governor Soeum Bunrith told The Post that during a testing campaign there were 24 Cambodian migrant workers returning from Thailand out of 330 who tested positive.
The other 4,577 people tested were drivers and cargo handlers who were transporting goods from Thailand to Cambodia and vice versa, 40 of whom tested positive for Covid-19.
“All workers from Thailand to Cambodia through Battambang province must be tested for Covid-19. Cambodian or Thai drivers and their assistants crossing the border must also be tested,” he said.
Bunrith added that authorities are working hard to prevent further spread of the new Delta variant of Covid-19.
“We are launching this Covid-19 rapid testing campaign because we are concerned about the new Delta variant in Thailand, and we obtained the policy from the national level’s inter-ministerial commission and the border management commission,” he said.
In Oddar Meanchey province, Department of Information director Phal Lim said officials have also tightened international border crossings, fearing that some Cambodian workers who return from Thailand will not quarantine or manage to evade the Covid-19 testing requirement.
“Currently, the daily number of Cambodian workers returning from Thailand is less than 400. So the provincial governor has tightened procedures and instructed the border authorities to strengthen quarantine measures and conduct rapid tests universally,” he said.
Phal Lim said that from July 1-11, a total of 3,762 workers, drivers and assistants to drivers were tested for Covid-19, 871 of whom were confirmed positive.
He said Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand were returning home for fear of contracting the virus in Thailand because the Covid-19 situation there was so severe that it had led to the closure of many workplaces and job losses for many Cambodian workers, prompting them to return home now.