Health ministry’s Or Vandine (right) and WHO’s Dr Li Ailan. Supplied
Ministry of Health officials led by spokeswoman Or Vandine and WHO representative to Cambodia Dr Li Ailan are visiting three provinces in north-eastern Cambodia to encourage officials there to raise their commitment to preventing a second wave of Covid-19.
Vandine told The Post on Tuesday that the visits to Mondulkiri, Ratanakkiri and Kratie provinces, known for their tourism potential, started on June 8 and ends on June 12.
She said the visits were planned to encourage sub-national officials to be well prepared for any potential cases of Covid-19 in their provinces, although none have been reported as yet.
“We are travelling there to fight against Covid-19 and prevent the second wave of this disease, as these provinces are tourist destinations. We are also working to eradicate malaria,” she said.
Vandine and Ailan visited Mondulkiri on Monday and met with the director of the Mondulkiri provincial health department.
They then met with provincial governor Svay Sam Eang on Tuesday before travelling to Ratanakkiri.
Vandine said people are starting to visit tourist sites and forgetting to safeguard themselves and others against Covid-19.
She said guesthouses and hotels in Mondulkiri are starting to fill up, which is why she insisted that officials in the province be ready if a Covid-19 case was to appear.
Vandine said the Mondulkiri visit was attended by officials from the Department of Hospital Services, the Communicable Disease Control Department, the National Centre for Health Promotion and the ministry’s Department of International Cooperation to assist with the review of prevention techniques.
“The sooner a case is detected, the sooner we can treat it and prevent transmission from one person to another,” she said.
Vandine said the team visited referral hospitals and health centres. They also visited village officials and volunteers to coach them on how to properly disseminate prevention information.
Mondulkiri provincial Department of Health director Bun Sour told The Post on Tuesday that the provincial Committee for Combating Covid-19 is performing its duties regularly.
The committee has visited hotels, guesthouses and restaurants to educate people and install alcohol hand-washing stations and thermometers. It has also reached out to indigenous communities.
He said the province set up two checkpoints – one at the border with Kratie and another at the border with Ratanakkiri – to check travellers’ health and disinfect the tires on vehicles entering the province.
“The work has been carried out by local authorities in the villages and communes in collaboration with the Red Cross and youth groups. We have been doing this work since Covid-19 first appeared,” he said.
