Lieutenant General Hun Manet, Deputy Commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and Commander of the Royal Cambodian Army, commemorated the one-year anniversary of his work organising Covid-19 treatment facilities for mild symptoms at Koh Pich Convention and Exhibition Centre in Phnom Penh at the peak of the pandemic.

"Today last year – April 13, 2021 – was a day when my wife and I and our team were busy all day and night quickly setting up the Covid-19 treatment centre for mild symptoms at Koh Pich according to the order of [Prime Minister Hun Sen].

He said the arrangement of Covid-19 treatment at the center needed to be done urgently because the spread of the coronavirus in Phnom Penh dramatically increased around that time.

The establishment of the facilities at Koh Pich followed the completion of those at the Great Duke Hotel – which was also turned into a treatment centre – and Luang Mer Hospital, later known as Nokor Tep.

Lt Gen Manet expressed his belief that the people living in Phnom Penh must try to recall their feelings of worry, fear and uncertainty about what would happen next because every day many more people were infected with Covid-19.

He noted that taking the family on a New Year's trip last year was certainly not a priority for the people, who instead had to prioritise taking preventive measures to protect their health, lives and family from Covid-19.

"If we remember the situation a year ago, as I briefly described above, we must be very proud that … we have fought together against Covid-19 successfully, which allowed us to reopen our country,” he said in a Facebook post.

"This New Year, people across the country can celebrate our traditional holiday with friends and family happily and without worries like last year," he added.