Cambodia has drawn global accolades for its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a new report finding that the Kingdom has controlled the pandemic better than any other country in Asia.
Dr Takeshi Kasai, director of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Western Pacific region, applauded Cambodia’s response to the health crisis, while the new report ranked Cambodia as third out of all the nations in the world in its control of the pandemic.
“Collective health is based on strong leadership and individual actions. I commend Cambodia for its decisive action to manage the cluster linked to the 3 Nov diplomatic visit, and the government’s leaders for modelling good public health practices,” Kasai tweeted on November 20, referring to the November 3 visit of Covid-19-positive Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto.
The new ranking report, which was published by the Economic Prospective Bureau of the Republic of Senegal, compared Cambodia’s Covid-19 data against that provided to the WHO by 166 global nations, according to Ministry of Health spokeswoman Or Vandine on November 22.
Cambodia was ranked number 3 out of the 166 countries and number 1 in Asia for its efforts in controlling the Covid-19 outbreak and minimising its impacts, according to the report.
“This assessment was based on the transmission of the disease in these countries. Speaking specifically, this means the number of patients who were infected with Covid-19, the frequency of patients recovering, and the number of people who have died in each country,” Vandine said.
She added the Economic Prospective Bureau had assessed the level of national resilience during the campaigns and operations that were deployed to fight Covid-19 in each country. She said the report also factored in the role of each country’s leaders in the fight against Covid-19.
Vandine said Cambodia had done a good job containing the impact of the “November 3 event” and that the country’s leadership deserved praise.
“Prime Minister Hun Sen has a big heart and also a heart of compassion. He has always thought about the health of the people and laid out proper and timely measures,” she said.
WHO representative to Cambodia Dr Li Ailan also applauded the Kingdom.
“Congratulations to Cambodia for managing the ‘3 Nov’ COVID-19 event well to keep Cambodia safe! Early Detection, Rapid Response with Targeted Interventions are essential to the success!” she said in a November 21 tweet.
Meanwhile, health minister Mam Bun Heng sent a letter thanking Kasai for his praise, saying he hoped the WHO would further strengthen its close collaboration and help improve health services for the Cambodian people.
Separately, the ministry on November 22 said the Kingdom had detected another confirmed case of Covid-19 in a 27-year-old Cambodian man from Prey Veng province’s Kampong Trabek district. The man arrived in Cambodia from Japan via South Korea on October 26.
The ministry said the man had been given his fourth Covid-19 test on his 13rd day of quarantine by the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge and is being treated at the Chak Angre Health Centre in Phnom Penh.
The latest case brings the country’s Covid-19 tally to 306, with 11 active cases as of November 22.
