Minister of Health Mam Bun Heng has reversed his previous decision and will now allow licensed private medical clinics – including maternity clinics – in Phnom Penh to treat Covid-19 patients, as the number of new cases is far outpacing the rate at which patients are recovering.

In a press release dated April 25, Bun Heng said the decision was made to ease the burden on state hospitals. Licensed private hospitals and clinics can now submit a request for permission to the ministry’s Hospital Department and once approved they can begin treating Covid-19 patients.

Private health clinics have to fulfill certain conditions in order to get permission, such as having appropriate facilities, a parking lot, ambulances and the necessary medical equipment, a medical laboratory with proper equipment, a system to prevent the spread of the disease and a system to dispose of medical waste as well as rooms or a ward that can be safely isolated and a well-equipped emergency room with trained doctors and medical workers.

All of the authorised private health clinics and hospitals will have to submit regular reports to the health ministry.

Previously, on March 30, Bun Heng had issued an announcement warning that all private clinics that perform Covid-19 tests and treatments would face legal action.

The new decision comes as Cambodia records daily increases of hundreds of new cases, far outnumbering the pace of recoveries which typically take about two weeks to complete even for minor or asymptomatic cases.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said recently that the number of cases had now exceeded the capacity of state hospitals in Phnom Penh. Standard Operating Procedures previously established for home-based treatment have also been put into practice.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Administration has also revised its compulsory Covid-19 testing requirement for all residents in the red zones – where residents are forbidden from leaving their homes – just one day after its earlier announcement which mandated testing for everyone and raised the threat of legal actions against anyone who failed to comply.

According to the new instructions released on April 24, now only those who have had contact with infected patients or are living in high-risk areas have to be tested.

“Testing in the red zone is now required for those who have had direct and indirect contact with Covid-19 patients, those who live the areas with a high number of positive cases, those who have temperatures, a cough, sneezing, difficulty breathing or anyone else who thinks that they may have contracted the virus,” municipal governor Khuong Sreng said in the new directive.

For those who have to be tested such as elderly people, pregnant women, women who just delivered babies, people with disabilities or those with chronic illnesses – they have to inform their local village and commune authorities who will then inform the frontline workers. They will then come and collect the samples at a location convenient to the patient’s residence.

In other developments, Banteay Meanchey provincial governor Um Reatrey has designated some areas in Samaki village and Kbal Spean I village in Poipet commune of Poipet town as Red Zones a day after the town was put under lockdown.

All travel is banned and people must stay in their homes except for those going to get tested, vaccinated or in need of medical treatment.

“Those who violate this order will be arrested and sent to court to face the law, up to and including imprisonment and fines,” Reatrey said.

Banteay Meanchey deputy provincial governor Ros Sophany said she could only confirm that four Covid-19 cases were recently found in Poipet town.

However, local media outlet Fresh News reported on April 25 that a total of 126 cases had been recorded there and most of them were Indonesian nationals.