Cambodian PM calls for precautions as religious holiday approaches

Phnom Penh, Oct 4 (IANS) Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has called on people to take extra precautions to prevent large-scale Covid-19 transmission during the Pchum Ben religious holiday from Tuesday to Thursday.During the holiday, people are expected to travel across the Southeast Asian nation, which can pose high risk of large-scale transmission, especially the Delta variant, Xinhua news agency quoted Hun Sen as saying in a statement on Sunday.He advised local authorities to enforce preventive measures at tourism-related businesses and resorts during the holiday and encouraged state institutions and private companies to rapid test their employees for Covid-19 when they return to work from the holiday."The measures aim to prevent and contain large-scale Covid-19 transmission and to protect people's lives and health as the Kingdom of Cambodia is stepping toward reopening the country fully in all fields in the near future," Hun Sen said.Pchum Ben festival is the kingdom's second largest festival after the Khmer New Year. Cambodia on Sunday confirmed 199 new Covid-19 cases, pushing the national total caseload to 113,256, the Ministry of Health (MoH) said in a statement.Twenty-three more fatalities were registered, taking the overall death toll to 2,383, it said, adding that an additional 490 patients recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 104,408.The Kingdom launched a Covid-19 vaccination drive in February and till date, 13.42 million people or 83.9 per cent of its 16-million population have received at least one dose.Meanwhile, 11.1 million peeople, or 69.4 per cent, have been fully vaccinated, and 901,907, or 5.6 percent, have received a booster dose.
--IANS ksk/

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