Phnom Penh municipal governor Khuong Sreng reminded Covid-19 patients under home-based treatment and those who care for them to properly dispose of waste to prevent the virus spreading.

Nearly 1,000 patients, Sreng noted, have undergone treatment at home, some of whom have recovered, since the ministry introduced Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and guidelines for such practice in June.

“You have to disinfect the patient’s waste inside and outside a bag and place it separately from other waste for 72 hours before putting it outside your home for waste collector,” he instructed.

Sreng said waste from Covid-19 patients must be wrapped in a yellow bag or any bag with a writing indicating it is the waste left by a Covid-19 patient. A bag should be able to take up to 15kg of waste so that a patient can use it for five days, thereby avoiding leaving the waste outside their home every day.

If the patient and those taking care of them do not follow the guidelines, they are subject to legal action in accordance with the law on the control of Covid-19 and other contagious diseases.

Sreng said while wrapping up the Covid-19 vaccination campaign in Phnom Penh on July 8 that the capital logged around 200-300 positive cases every day.