Cambodia's COVID-19 case tally exceeds 20,000 with 480 new cases

PHNOM PENH, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's COVID-19 case tally has surged to 20,223 on Tuesday after 480 new infections were reported nationwide in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said in a statement. The new confirmed cases included 470 local cases and 10 imported cases, the statement said. Five more fatalities were recorded during the cited period, raising the death toll from the coronavirus epidemic to 131, the statement said, adding that 350 patients have recovered, taking the total number of recoveries to 8,170 in the Southeast Asian country.

Cambodia has been suffering a third wave of COVID-19 community transmissions since Feb. 20. In a bid to flatten the infection curve, the country has closed down all schools, sports facilities, museums, cinemas, and entertainment venues nationwide and has imposed lockdown in some areas deemed as high-risk places. Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Tuesday that COVID-19 vaccines, along with health safety measures, would save lives from the pandemic, encouraging the Cambodian people to receive the vaccine when their turns come.

"Vaccines are a critical tool in the battle against the COVID-19. They help protect our people's health from the COVID-19 attack," he wrote on his official Facebook page. The kingdom launched its COVID-19 inoculation drive on Feb 10. So far, more than 1.82 million out of the country's 16 million population have been vaccinated against the virus, the Ministry of Health said.

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