Chapter closed: PM confident no new outbreak will cause shutdown again

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday expressed confidence that the reopening of the country will not lead to an outbreak as had happened in the past.

Mr Hun Sen said this in his speech during the inauguration of the Cambodia-China Stung Trang-Krouch Chhmar Friendship Bridge in Kampong Cham province.

He said that the reopening of the country now is not a setback and “we are moving forward to improve and recover the country”.

“Covid-19 and its variants have taught us many valuable lessons and it pushed us to where we are today amid the reopening of the country,” he said.

“I cannot allow for my people to die or live miserably and suffer from time to time because of Covid-19. However, I am confident that reopening the country this time is not a setback while I am also confident that we won’t have another outbreak like the previous time,” he added.

“Vaccines have given the nation hope to fight against the deadly virus and there are many types being made. However, some of them were not available for purchasing. Ultimately I chose to rely on China for supplying Covid-19 vaccines,” he noted.

“We purchased about 28 million vaccines while China donated about two million doses of vaccine to Cambodia too. Meanwhile, China also promised to supply vaccines as long as the Kingdom has Covid-19,” Mr Hun Sen said.

“I have noticed that the success of high vaccination rate in Cambodia brought many factors along to propel recovery towards the post-pandemic stage,” he said.

He noted that he was really proud of the successful pathway in the fight against Covid-19 and even though so many people threatened and spread fake messages that vaccines could kill, more than 14 million people got vaccinated.”

“Meanwhile, the second thing I am really proud of is that people have changed their mindset about the risks and are aware of how to protect and how to prevent themselves from Covid-19,” Mr Hun Sen added. “I urge all people to keep following these protective measures and make this a habit while we are living in the new normal amid the Covid-19 spread.”

He pointed out that Cambodia has been affected by Covid-19 for almost two years, and reopening the country did not mean the fight against the virus had stopped. It only meant that the country was fighting it in a more efficient way.

“In the past few months we could see the high rate of infections of Covid-19 and deaths, so I needed to come up with many strategies to protect people from the virus,” Mr Hun Sen said, adding that these included lockdowns in high-risk areas.

“If at that time we did not apply the lockdown strategies or strict measures for the sake of people’s lives, the situation would have become worse,” he said.

In his speech, Mr Hun Sen also touched on unvaccinated children and the closure of kindergartens.

“Kindergartens with pupils aged below five should not reopen because this age group has not yet been vaccinated against Covid-19,” he said.

“If children aged five years old are vaccinated, they can go to school, but health measures must be in place, he noted, adding that kindergartens with pupils aged three and four should not be reopened because that age group has not yet been inoculated.

The Prime Minister did not say if vaccinated meant one dose or both doses because to date no five-year-old has received the second one.

On November 8, the Education Ministry released a statement ordering all kindergartens to postpone reopening following a recommendation by Mr Hun Sen to protect the children from the risk of Covid-19.

It stated that after the vaccination campaign for five-year-old children is completed, the ministry will notify on the re-opening of kindergartens.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES