Cambodia is considering reopening as daily cases stay low for the 11th day in a row.

[ASEAN NOW]

 

Cambodia today experienced the 11th day of huge decreases in new cases after seven days of daily new case statistics exceeding 800.

The official daily new COVID case total for today was 258, increasing the overall number of COVID cases to 115,068.

 

The World Health Organization has backed Prime Minister Hun Sen's claim that Cambodia's economy may completely reopen across all sectors if the COVID-19 situation after Pchum Ben is stable for at least 10-15 days.

 

"The current COVID-19 situation is steady," the PM remarked over the weekend, "with less than 20 deaths and less than 300 cases recorded per day." If the situation does not improve in the next 10 to 15 days, I believe it is necessary to reopen the economy and society in all areas in accordance with the new normal paradigm."

Meanwhile, Thailand intends to introduce travel bubbles throughout Cambodia's border with Thailand this year, including in Trat province and Koh Kong province in Cambodia.

 

With 19,217 instances being imported, the total number of Community Cases is now 95,851.

 

Today, 16 imported cases were announced while the number of imported cases seemed to be dwindling.

 

Cambodia also revealed 21 further deaths, bringing the total number of COVID-19-related deaths in Cambodia to 2527.

 

As active cases decreased, 546 recoveries were announced, bringing the total number of active COVID cases in Cambodia to 4131.

 

This sharp decline in reported cases is linked to a new strategy of limited COVID-19 fast testing, which is the first step in moving the COVID-19 issue from pandemic to endemic status.

 

However, this new approach has significantly reduced the number of reported cases, and when combined with the current policy of not providing any provincial or 'Delta' numbers, it is now difficult to determine the exact extent of COVID in Cambodia.

 

There was certainly an upward tendency in The Kingdom, but the previous 11 days' results have completely reversed this upward trend, as shown in the graph below (please note that results may be up to 2 days behind):

However, frontline regions bordering Thailand are dealing with a huge challenge, with incidences of migrant workers crossing the border illegally giving officials great alarm.

 

Ngoun Mengchroun, deputy provincial governor of Banteay Meanchey, told Khmer Times yesterday:

 

"This issue has come to light in the days following the Pchum Ben event. The number of migrant laborers seeking to illegally cross the border is on the rise, which is cause for concern."

 

Cambodians are betting on the Royal Government's immunization program, which has been dubbed the "Cambodian vaccination miracle" and is depicted in the graph below.

 

Cambodia not only has a considerably higher vaccination rate than Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam, but it has also surpassed practically every major country in the globe, including China, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany.

 

Today is the commencement of the third booster dose campaign in Phnom Penh.

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