As the 11th consecutive day of fewer instances is recorded, Cambodia is closer to ‘reopening’.

[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 267, increasing the overall number of COVID cases to 115,335 cases.

 

Despite the fact that conditions for Cambodia's reopening are improving, Phnom Penh Governor Khuong Sreng has called for "greater attention to avoid the spread of COVID-19 in order to reach reopening in all areas as soon as possible."

 

High vaccination coverage, according to the WHO official in Cambodia, is also a healthy foundation for the economy's reopening.

 

Each sector, according to Dr. Li Ailan, can open safely and responsibly if it has balanced, risk-based policies on public health and social measures that include guidance from the health sector, monitoring of implementation and compliance with the measures, and engagement and communication with sector members.

 

Regional ASEAN reopenings are undoubtedly exerting pressure on Cambodia to do the same.

 

There are presently 96,099 Community Instances, with 19,236 cases being imported.

 

Today, 19 imported cases were announced while the number of imported cases seemed to be dwindling.

 

Cambodia also revealed 17 further deaths, increasing the total number of COVID-19-related deaths in Cambodia to 2544.

 

As active cases decreased, 399 recoveries were announced, bringing the total number of active COVID cases in Cambodia to 3982.

 

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 12 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.

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