As Cambodia formally declares its opening, the number of cases is expected to remain modest.

PM Hun Sen said today that "the country is completely reopened in all sectors from today forth." Expect busy shops and roads," Cambodia reported yet another low daily COVID case count, capping a 32-day streak of 'new normal' low case counts.

The official daily new COVID case total for today was 89, increasing the overall number of COVID cases to 118,702.

Cambodia has seen a number of major developments on the ‘road to reopening’ in the past 2 weeks  – including the announcement of a ‘sandbox scheme’ to allow quarantine-free visits for those who are fully-vaccinated to Sihanoukville, Koh Rong island and the Dara Sakor Resort , the re-opening of the e-Visa scheme for tourists and investors, relaxation of the quarantine period for incoming travellers, the ban on flights from Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines being lifted and a new QR code system for checking vaccination status that show a determination from  the Royal Government to get The Kingdom open for business again as soon as is safely possible.

Both Malaysia Airlines and Bangkok Airlines have announced the restoration of direct flights to Cambodia, potentially signaling a return to normalcy in international travel.

However, given this euphoric environment around Cambodia's reopening, a voice of caution must be spoken.

COVID has not vanished – far from it – and, while the Kingdom is significantly better prepared to handle with the pandemic threat than many other countries due to widespread immunization, it remains a devastating – if hopefully controlled – threat.

Cambodians must understand that the "new normal" does not imply an immediate return to pre-COVID conditions.

With 19,645 instances being imported, the total number of Community Cases is now 99,057.

Today, four new imported cases were announced, continuing the trend of fewer imported cases.

Cambodia also revealed 6 further deaths, bringing the total number of COVID-19-related deaths in Cambodia to 2,800.

As active cases decreased, 115 recoveries were announced, bringing the total number of active COVID cases in Cambodia to 877.

The strategy of limited fast testing for COVID-19, which is the first step in transitioning away from the pandemic to the 'endemic stage' of the COVID-19 issue, is linked to the dramatic downward trend in reported cases.

This approach has drastically reduced the number of cases recorded, 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.

Credit Source: Khmer Times

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