The Takeo provincial administration on May 3 temporarily suspended four factories that employ 1,201workers from various villages in Bati district after some of them and market vendors in the area tested positive for Covid-19.

According a directive signed on May 3 by Takeo provincial governor Ouch Phea, many staff members at the firms – PV Industry (Cambodia) Co Ltd; Hour Limi (Cambodia) Co Ltd; Linton Manufacturing Co Ltd; and Lun Wei Style Co Ltd – had tested positive for Covid-19 while others had been in direct and indirect contact with them.

Employers and workers of the companies have been instructed to get tested and cooperate with authorities to identify more people who may have been in contact with them.

The provincial referral hospital’s response team would administer testing in Putsar commune or at the Bati district referral hospital. If any workers fail to test at the appointed time, they can be tested at a nearby referral hospital or the health centre.

Authorities also banned people from gathering after the companies were closed.

Takeo provincial health department director Nuth Sinat said that on May 3, the hospital’s working group had begun to test for infections and quarantine workers.

He added that in the district, nearly 40 people including workers and their relatives had contracted Covid-19.

However, Sinat did not identify the source of the outbreak in the area, saying only that besides workers at the factories, some market vendors had also tested positive.