Crowds await Covid-19 retesting at Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh on Tuesday. Heng Chivoan
Two more people connected to the November 28 community transmission tested positive for Covid-19 while the Ministry of Health conducted a second round of testing on those involved in the event on December 8, in Phnom Penh and throughout the provinces.
According to the health ministry’s press release on December 8, the new cases were Srean Kimsrun, a 22 year-old law student at the Royal University of Law and Economics and resident of Daun Penh district’s Wat Phnom commune, Phnom Penh, who went to the Zando fashion outlet in Boeung Keng Kang district on November 27, and Eam Thida, a 35 year-old resident of Meanchey district’s Boeung Tompun commune, Phnom Penh. She visited the Pedro footwear and accessories outlet on November 27.
On December 7, health ministry officials collected about 2,000 samples from employees of the Ministry of Interior who had not been tested previously. Officials who had been tested once before were instructed to return for a second test on December 8, including interior minister Sar Kheng.
The first round of testing began on November 29 after the first local Covid-19 transmission was detected in Heng Kong, wife of Chhem Savuth, director-general of prisons.
Over the next week, more than 10,000 people were tested, with instructions to take a follow-up test on December 8. The health ministry, together with provincial officials nationwide, set up testing facilities at designated locations.
On December 7, health minister Mam Bun Heng requested all capital and provincial leaders to strengthen management of quarantine protocols and continue to issue instructions for the implementation of measures to prevent Covid-19 transmission in places of business.
In businesses where employees have direct contact with the public – such as supermarkets, pharmacies, banks, hotels, restaurants, salons and traditional market stalls – it is especially important to follow safety procedures, he said.
Bun Heng also urged “greater oversight of people during the 14-day quarantine period and management of passengers entering the country across land borders or via sea and air corridors.”
He added that people should avoid enclosed settings without sufficient air flow, avoid crowded places or those where many people are gathering and avoid close contacts with others such as hugging or shaking hands.
