As Omicron cases surge in Phnom Penh, Prime Minister Hun Sen has postponed plans to meet with the more than 1,700 students who passed the high school diploma exams with “A” grades. The meeting was initially scheduled for February 28.

Following the report of nearly 500 Omicron community cases on February 14, Hun Sen took to Facebok late on February 14 saying: “Because of the number of Omicron cases, I am postponing the meeting, for safety’s sake.”

He continued: “Stay healthy and look after yourselves. There will be plenty of time for us to meet in the future. I trust that the students and their families will understand why this difficult decision had to be made.”

On February 7, Hun Sen announced that he would meet with the grade “A” students in Phnom Penh. Provincial authorities were to be responsible for sending the students and their parents to Phnom Penh and for arranging accommodation.

The high school diploma exam was held on December 27-28. Among the 72,016 candidates who passed the exam, 1,753 received an “A” grade.

The 1,753 grade “A” students include 565 students from the capital, 153 from Siem Reap, 127 in Kandal, 123 in Battambang and 118 from Kampong Cham