Cambodian Pchum Ben festival holiday a test of success or failure in COVID-19 fight: PM

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 6– Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said Wednesday that allowing people to travel freely during the Pchum Ben festival holiday is a test of the kingdom’s success or failure in the COVID-19 battle after the majority of the population had been inoculated against the disease. Cambodia launched a COVID-19 inoculation drive in…

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) — Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said Wednesday that allowing people to travel freely during the Pchum Ben festival holiday is a test of the kingdom’s success or failure in the COVID-19 battle after the majority of the population had been inoculated against the disease.

Pchum Ben festival, from Oct. 5 to 7, is one of the largest religious festivals in the Southeast Asian nation.

“This is the trial phase to see whether after Pchum Ben, we have a large-scale outbreak or not. If it is the case, then the plan to reopen the country in all sectors will not be possible,” he said in an audio message released publicly.

“But if our people can protect themselves and the number of infection cases and deaths is not serious, they all will see the reopening of the economy and society, especially schools and domestic tourism,” he added.

Although fully vaccinated, people must strictly comply with health measures, wearing a face mask, washing hands frequently and keeping social distancing of 1.5 meters from each other, he said.

“This is a trial between disaster and safety. If we do it properly, disaster will not happen and will not lead to a halt in the plan to reopen the country,” Hun Sen said.

Cambodia launched a COVID-19 inoculation drive in February, with China being the key vaccine supplier.

Health Ministry’s secretary of state and spokeswoman Or Vandine said as of Oct. 5, the country had administered at least one vaccine dose to 13.45 million people, or 84 percent of its 16-million population.

Of them, 11.13 million, or 69.5 percent, had been fully vaccinated with both required shots, and 907,175, or 5.6 percent, had received a booster dose, she said in a report.

The kingdom on Wednesday reported a daily record of 221 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the national total caseload to 113,924, the health ministry said, adding that 13 more fatalities had been registered, taking the overall death toll to 2,431.

Additional 443 patients recovered, lifting the total number of recoveries to 105,793, said the ministry. Enditem