Officials warned yesterday that the current cold snap would last until Friday, as Prime Minister Hun Sen called on military officers to look after the health of their soldiers.

Nen Kuon, director of Oddar Meanchey province’s Water Resources and Meteorology Department, said that in areas of his province, the temperature dropped as low as 11.5 degrees Celsius.

The premier this morning reminded citizens to take care of their health, especially soldiers stationed at the border.

“Please, do sports activities in the morning for health. For the soldiers stationed at the border, you need to take care of your health and wear coats to protect yourself in order to avoid infectious diseases,” he said in a Facebook post.

Svay Nhorn, a military commander in Stung Treng province, said temperatures had indeed fallen, but “the troops have coats, hats, boots and other materials for fighting the cold already, so there is no worry for our troops”.

The forecast from the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology predicts continued cold weather over the next few days, with temperatures around 19 degrees in Phnom Penh.