Lowest daily case total since April for Cambodia as Kingdom moves to ‘new normal’

[ASEAN NOW]

 

As Cambodia gets closer to reopening, the country's daily new case number has dropped to its lowest level since April 6th.

The official daily new COVID case total for today was 151, increasing the overall number of COVID cases to 117,352.

 

PM Hun Sen said 14 days ago, on the 8th of October, that Cambodia will be able to restart its economy across all sectors if the Covid-19 situation following Pchum Ben remains stable for at least 10 days, saying:

 

"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 under the new normal paradigm," he said.

 

Cambodia now appears to be returning to a 'new normal,' as evidenced by the re-opening of the e-Visa scheme for tourists and investors, the relaxation of the quarantine period for incoming travellers, a new QR code system for checking vaccination status, and a general determination by the Royal Government to re-open the Kingdom for business as soon as it is safe to do so.

 

Anthony Galliano, president of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM), told Khmer Times:

 

"The return of the tourist E-visa sends a message to the rest of the world that the Kingdom is gradually opening up again." Since the introduction of COVID, the suspension of tourist visas has destroyed the sector. This is a ray of light for the hospitality industry, yet inbound tourist travel is likely to remain halted because adding seven days of quarantine to any vacation is still unworkable.

 

"The good news is that there is now a process in place for tourism visas, and they are once again available." As neighboring neighbors' immunization rates catch up with Cambodia's, the quarantine duration is expected to be decreased in the near future."

 

With 19,451 instances being imported, the total number of Community Cases is now 97,901.

 

Today, 21 imported cases were announced while the number of imported cases seemed to be dwindling.

 

Cambodia also revealed 11 new deaths, bringing the total number of COVID-19-related deaths in Cambodia to 2704.

 

As active cases decreased, 366 recoveries were announced, bringing the total number of active COVID cases in Cambodia to 2585.

 

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.

 

Discover Cigna’s range of health insurance solutions created for expats and local nationals living in Thailand - click to view