Cambodian PM urges caution as daily Omicron cases rise to over 200

Phnom Penh, Feb 9 (IANS) Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen has appealed to Cambodians to continue caution and properly follow protective measures to avert a disaster as the daily cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 increased to more than 200 in the country.

"The number of new Covid-19 cases has been increasing every day. On Tuesday, the infected cases rose to more than 200 after falling to a single digit (in December 2021) before surging again to two digits and now triple digits," he said on Tuesday in an audio message.

"I would like to appeal to the people to reduce gatherings for drinking and eating, as well as for entertainment purposes in order to maintain physical distancing," he added.

"Although Omicron is less severe than Alpha and Delta variants, if the number of infections continues to rise rapidly, it will lead to a disaster."

Hun Sen said most of the cases had been detected in the capital Phnom Penh, urging people to strictly comply with a guideline on three dos and three don'ts, and go for vaccines or booster doses when their turn comes, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Vaccine is a key tool to protect people's lives, and reduce death and severe illness," he added.

The three dos include wearing a face mask, washing hands regularly, and maintaining a physical distance of 1.5 metres, and the three don'ts are avoiding confined and enclosed spaces, crowded spaces, and touching each other.

The Southeast Asian nation has so far administered at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccines to 14.36 million people, or 89.7 per cent of its 16-million population, the Health Ministry said, adding that of them, 13.78 million, or 86.1 per cent, have been fully vaccinated with two required vaccine shots.

Most of the vaccines used in the country's inoculation campaign are China's Sinovac and Sinopharm.