Migrant workers at a quarantine centre in Battambang province on January 08, 2021. Battambang Administration
Prime Minister Hun Sen has allocated an additional 800 million and 200 million riel ($200,000 and $50,000) to Oddar Meanchey and Battambang provinces respectively to prepare, supply and maintain quarantine accommodations for Cambodian migrant workers as they continue to make their way home from Thailand.
This came as the Ministry of Health confirmed eight more cases of Covid-19.
Oddar Meanchey deputy provincial governor Dy Rado told The Post on January 14 that authorities and health officials in the province had done a good job managing the Cambodian migrant workers who have been staying at 11 quarantine centres across the province.
“Samdech Prime Minister [Hun Sen] has always provided funds, pure drinking water and many other materials to our province to prepare and supply our migrant workers.
“As of the evening of January 13, there are 2,235 migrant workers in quarantine at our centres. Over 300 workers who completed their quarantine have already left the centres,” he said.
Rado added that no migrant workers who returned from Thailand to Cambodia via Oddar Meanchey province had tested positive for Covid-19 so the situation there is better than in some places. He said authorities were always prepared to help any migrant workers who have health problems.
Banteay Meanchey provincial deputy governor Ly Sary told The Post on January 14 that authorities had continued imposing further restrictions after migrant workers returning from Thailand had tested positive Covid-19.
“We have spread the word and instructed our migrant workers to be more careful because transmission occurs person to person so each individual must do their part to prevent it. They must respect and follow the instructions of the health ministry and local authorities,” he said.
Sary added that authorities had organised more quarantine locations and now had 17 centres in order to accommodate the 100 to 200 migrant workers on average who returned from Thailand each day.
To date, more than 3,000 have returned from Thailand via the international checkpoints of Banteay Meanchey province and nearly 1,000 had completed their quarantine.
Ministry of Interior secretary of state Chou Bun Eng said on January 12 that more than 130,000 migrant workers had left Thailand for Cambodia but Cambodian authorities believe they have successfully stopped almost all of them and required them to do quarantine for 14 days.
The health ministry said that on January 13, there were 13 confirmed new cases of Covid-19. Of that number, eight are migrant workers from Thailand and five others are passengers inbound from the US and Japan.
Of the eight migrant workers, five stay in Banteay Meanchey province, two in Siem Reap, and one in Battambang.
Of the five passengers, four arrived in Cambodia from the US and Indonesia via Singapore on January 12. They are being treated at the National Centre for Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control in Phnom Penh.
The four were travelling with 44 other passengers, all of whom tested negative are being quarantined in three separate hotels in Phnom Penh.
The other case is a Japanese national who arrived in Cambodia on January 12 via South Korea. He is being treated at the same hospital. He was travelling with 56 other passengers, all of whom tested negative and are being quarantined at three separate hotels and the US embassy in Phnom Penh.
The latest cases bring the Kingdom’s Covid-19 tally to 411, with 377 having recovered.
