Cambodian Unions and NGOs Call for Workers’ Safety to Combat COVID-19

Cambodian NGOs and trade unions called on Phnom Penh Wednesday to improve health and safety for workers in the country to combat its recent coronavirus outbreak, while the governments of neighboring Vietnam and Laos took precautions Wednesday to keep the virus from spreading within its borders.

Though Cambodia has relatively few cases compared to the rest of the world, an outbreak that started in February resulted in cases increasing exponentially from tens to hundreds each day. Many patients have been factory and construction workers who live, commute and work in close quarters that cause transmission.

The country last week shattered its daily record of COVID-19 infections with nearly 700 cases of the disease caused by the coronavirus. On Wednesday, another 698 tested positive, bringing the total number of cases to 11,761 with 88 deaths.

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RFA’s Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese Services. Translated by Samean Yun, Max Avary and Chau Vu. Written in English by Eugene Whong.