One of the factories that have been suspended due to Covid-19 outbreak in Svay Rieng province’s Bavet town. Svay Rieng Administration
Amid the ongoing community outbreak of Covid-19, nearly 20 factories in Preah Sihanouk and Svay Rieng provinces have temporarily suspended their operations after workers there tested positive for the disease.
In Preah Sihanouk province, governor Kuoch Chamroeun advised factory and commercial enterprise owners to put in place Covid-19 preventive health measures in order to maintain the sustainability of their businesses as they are a major economic catalyst for Cambodia.
In a notice on June 6, Chamroeun said all special economic zone owners have to maintain health and administrative measures as required by the authorities and the business owners must cooperate with the provincial administration working groups and local authorities to combat the pandemic.
He advised that all factories and enterprises provide two masks per day to their employees, take their temperatures and spray them with alcohol or disinfectant at exits and entrances.
He also encouraged factories and enterprises to prepare accommodations for workers at the work sites along with a means to transport them safely so that they will not get in overcrowded vans together.
“Factories and enterprises have to help workers negotiate with transport service providers to halve the number of passengers they used to ferry in the past. A van must have hand disinfectant dispensers and must be cleaned when workers get off,” he said.
Chamroeun said factories and enterprises should explain to their workers health guidelines and reserve Covid-19 test kits recognised by the Ministry of Health.
Preah Sihanouk provincial hall spokesman Kheang Phearom told The Post on June 7 that the province has had 1,343 cases of Covid-19 and 14 factories have been suspended temporarily.
In Svay Rieng province, deputy governor Ros Pharith told The Post on June 7 that more cases of Covid-19 are breaking out there and that it is concerning.
“The Covid-19 prevention commission and the provincial and district administrations are joining hands to prevent this disease from spreading further because the outbreak as of now has yet to subside. It is a cause for concern to us because it has been transmitted in some factories in the province,” he said.
He added that the transmission began in March following the February 20 community outbreak with more than 400 cases found in workers so far, most of them worked at casinos.
The provincial administration has shut down those casinos temporarily until the outbreak can be brought under control.
“This infection has spread to some factories in the special economic zone in our province. Five major factories and some portions of other factories have been suspended for a short time,” Pharith said.
