Officials carry out Covid-19 awareness raising campaign in Stung Treng province on Monday. STUNG TRENG PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION
Phnom Penh municipal governor Khuong Sreng said the capital has so far detected 111 cases of the coronavirus Delta variant among inbound airline passengers, patients being treated in hospitals and members of the community with no known outside contacts.
In most parts of the country, nearly 500 cases have been recorded, mostly in migrant workers returning from Thailand.
To stem its spread, Sreng on August 17 attended a meeting with Minister of Health Mam Bun Heng and relevant authorities regarding precautionary measures.
“In the context of combating and preventing the spread of the Delta variant, the municipal administration continues to work closely with the sub-commissions and ministries to quickly trace, manage and break chains of transmission in a timely manner,” he said.
According to Sreng, the municipality has also turned schools into quarantine facilities to receive migrant workers from the borders, naming Bun Rany Hun Sen Wat Phnom Secondary School and Chea Sim Chhoukva High School as the first two.
“We have 550 beds for 550 people to quarantine. We have also set up Covid-19 treatment centres for Delta variant cases, with a capacity of more than 1,400 beds.
“We decided to set up a Covid-19 treatment facility at the Premiere Centre Sen Sok [in Sen Sok district] with 1,350 beds for Delta treatment and 88 emergency care beds,” he said.
Since March 31, Cambodia has recorded a total of 494 Delta cases on workers returning from Thailand and Vietnam, inbound airline passengers, health workers, officials and villagers in communities in the capital and 21 provinces.
He said only Kep, Takeo and Kratie provinces have been spared, indicating that the outbreak is not fuelled solely by contact with people from outside of Cambodia like inbound passengers or migrants workers. It is spreading between local people with no known outside contacts in multiple communities.
Health minister Bun Heng said at the meeting that Covid-19 transmission was decreasing, but recently the Delta variant began to circulate, which required everyone to increase their vigilance.
“We held this meeting to come up with every means to get things on track and cut off the spread of Delta variant,” he said.
Ministry of Justice spokesman Kim Santepheap, who also attended the meeting, said Delta is threatening Phnom Penh and requires the authorities to continue strengthening preventive measures.
“The Phnom Penh Municipal Administration will further strengthen some emergency measures to prevent the Delta variant spreading after this emergency meeting with the executives of the Inter-ministerial Committee to Combat Covid-19.
“Brothers and sisters please take extra precautions and be sure to properly implement all of these measures,” he said.
Minister of Labour and Vocational Training Ith Sam Heng also issued a circular on measures to prevent the spread of Delta at factories and enterprises under its purview.
“Owners or managers of factories and enterprises have to conduct rapid testing on all workers and employees at least twice before September 10. After day 10 of the same month, they have to continue to conduct regular tests on targeted workers and employees,” the circular said.
Sam Heng said the management could order Covid-19 antigen rapid test kits from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.
“If any worker or employee tests positive for Covid-19 through the rapid test or has any suspicious symptoms, they need to report to the health ministry or through its hotline,” Sam Heng said.
The management must continue instructing workers and employees to comply with the measures on hygiene, occupational safety and health in the workplace and strictly implement all health measures.
In Stung Treng province, governor Mom Saroeun has put Stung Treng town in lockdown for one week from August 17-24 after some local residents there tested positive for Delta.
“During the lockdown, legal authorities and the local administrations at all levels must not allow people to enter or leave this town. Those who have been in contact with infected people from July 28 to August 17 have to self-quarantine at home and do so in the strictest manner,” he said.
Saroeun stated that any person who intentionally violates these administrative measures will be subject to fines or prosecution in accordance with the law on the control of Covid-19 and other contagious diseases.
