The government has launched the ‘Post-Lockdown Social Assistance in Cash” scheme to support poor people who have been seriously affected by the recent lockdown. The aid will also be provided to families whose members have died from Covid-19 and households whose members had contracted the disease.

The three-page announcement said that during the lockdown of Phnom Penh, Kandal province’s Takmao town and Preah Sihanouk province, the government had already provided food relief and will now provide assistance in cash to poor people in the lockdown areas.

Those eligible for the assistance include drivers, construction workers, street vendors, market staff, rubbish collectors and those who work in the entertainment sectors.

They will each receive a one-off cash transfer through through electronic payments service provider Wing – a single person will get $40; a family with maximum three members will receive $60, and a family with at least four members will get $75.

Each family whose member died from the Covid-19 will receive 300,000 riel ($75). Poor family whose member contracts Covid-19 will receive $40.

Factory workers affected by the lockdown will receive $40.

The procedures and date of receiving the cash will be announced by the National Council for Social Security Fund.