Minister of Health Mam Bun Heng issued a decision allowing licensed private health services to use rapid Covid-19 testing devices, known as the Rapid Antigen Test for Covid-19, to test samples across the entire country.

In a press statement released on April 22, Bun Heng said private health services such as private hospitals, polyclinics, and maternity clinics can start using this effectively from today forward.

“With strong agreement from Prime Minister Hun Sen, and following the request from Private Health Service Provider Association of Cambodia, the Ministry of Health on April 22 permitted licensed private health services to use the Rapid Antigen Test for Covid-19, a device that is acknowledged as effective and already being used by the Ministry of Health,” he said.

A doctor working for Ly Srey Vyna clinic who asked not to be named said her clinic has no such device as of yet and that she had just heard about the permission to use the device today.

“We just heard the information and we are not sure about this device and where to buy it. But we want to use it too. We will keep an eye on what other clinics do on this matter,” she said.

The devices have been used recently by the Samdech Techo Voluntary Youth Doctor Association (TYDA) when they tested the vendors at Doerm Kor market. It provided results in 15 to 30 minutes and they were as accurate as laboratory testing machines, according to Ministry of Health Secretary of State York Sambath.

As of April 22, Cambodia had recorded a total of 8,193 Covid-19 cases, with 5,204 receiving ongoing treatment and 59 confirmed fatalities.