Prime Minister Hun Sen has instructed provincial authorities not to impose a mandatory 14-day quarantine for people entering their territories. The measure, he said, should only applies to those suspected of carrying Covid-19.

In an audio message on May 6, he said that after the government lifted the lockdown of Phnom Penh and adjacent Takmao town in Kandal province, some provincial governors had issued directives mandating a 14-day quarantine for those entering their provinces .

“Doing this is tantamount to forming a state within a state. It’s like if I went to Indonesia and I’d have to undergo quarantine for 14 days. If we do this, it's like we are placing the whole country under lockdown,” he said.

The prime minister advised that only those suspected of having contracted the virus be placed in quarantine and ordered provincial governors who had introduced this requirement to revise it quickly as it could interrupt people’s movement.