Cambodia PM orders residence treatment for COVID-19 patients as hospitals struggle
07 April, 2021
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered health officials found on Tuesday (Apr 6) to get ready to treat coronavirus patients in the home, as the country's most important COVID-19 outbreak up to now tests the capability of its fragile healthcare system.
Cambodia had one of the world's smallest coronavirus caseloads until 6 weeks hence, but an outbreak in late February has resulted in its initial 22 COVID-19 deaths and a five-fold jump in cases to 2,824.
A total of 1 1,003 patients are getting treated in hospitals that are near capacity, Hun Sen said within an audio communication shared widely on Tuesday and reported by localized media.
"We can not accept all patients if cases increase even more," Hun Sen said.
"We have fewer persons recovered and many persons getting admitted for treatment and regardless if we set up some more hospitals, it is not enough," he said.
"Keep people that have mild cases of COVID-19 in the home for treatment," he added.
The health ministry did not immediately react to a request for touch upon the home treatment solution.
The government has restricted travels between provinces and cities, banned large gatherings and imposed a nighttime curfew in the administrative centre Phnom Penh for two weeks from Apr 1.
Cambodia has passed a good regulation that prescribes long jail terms for serious violations of health measures.
It also requires persons to scan Quick Response (QR) codes before entering establishments. THE BRAND NEW York-based Human Rights View on Tuesday explained such logging of personal information would help the government's surveillance practices, which it said had been intrusive.
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