Coronavirus: Cambodian PM Hun Sen warns ‘we are on the brink of death’; India records 200,000 new cases
- Cambodia has reported a surge in Covid-19 cases since February, when an outbreak was first detected among its Chinese expatriate community
- Thailand reported 1,543 new cases, the sharpest increase since the start of the pandemic, while Singapore invoked its fake news law over vaccine claims
Cambodia has reported a surge in Covid-19 cases since February, when an outbreak was first detected among its Chinese expatriate community.
Authorities said last week that hospitals in Phnom Penh were running out of beds and that they had transformed schools and wedding party halls into treatment centres, while Hun Sen threatened quarantine-breakers with jail time.
Phnom Penh and adjacent city Ta Khmau were on Wednesday night placed under lockdown for two weeks to curb the spread, effectively halting the movement of more than 2 million people.
“Please my people – join your efforts to end this dangerous event,” premier Hun Sen said during a recorded address aired on state-run television late Wednesday night. “We are on the brink of death already,” he said. “If we don’t join hands together, we will head to real death.”
Cambodia’s latest announced figures exceeded 4,800, but the premier on Wednesday said an additional 300 cases had been detected.