Prime Minister Hun Sen warned that if the Delta variant of Covid-19 spread into communities, Cambodia would face “devastation”.

Hun Sen made the remarks during a Council of Ministers meeting on July 9. He said the Alpha strain of Covid-19 has already been spreading in the country, and now comes the Delta variant through migrant workers returning from Thailand.

“This time is different from before. In the past, among 1,000 migrant workers who returned from Thailand, only between 20 and 30 tested positive for Covid-19. Now, if 300 migrants come, more than 100 test positive. If it is 500, around 200 are positive,” he said, noting that most of them returned through Banteay Meanchey and Oddar Meanchey provinces.

The Ministry of Health said recently that a total of 33 Delta variant cases have been detected in migrant workers last month.

According to the prime minister, Delta has yet to spread into communities.