Covid fees a must amid economic uncertainty
ARECENT announcement by Prime Minister Hun Sen that Cambodia will not charge foreigners for Covid-19 treatment could not be implemented any further as the Kingdom looks to reopen the country and restore its economy, a senior official said.
Minist r y of Economy a nd Finance spokesperson Meas Soksensa n told The Post on Tu e s d a y t h a t Hu n S e n’s a n n o u n c e m e n t w a s a humanitarian gesture meant only for foreig ners st ra nded in Cambodia.
It applied to those who had no reliance on their countries of origin when they were not allowed to return home, like the Westerdam cruise ship passengers. “In such a situation, Samdech Hun Sen framed a humanitarian principle.
“First, the Westerdam cruise ship was allowed to enter [Cambodia]. Hun Sen also announced that Cambodia would assist tourists who could not return home and had no one to rely on.
“Now we have reached a new situation – restoring the economy and reopening the country gradually. All countries would do the same.
“This new context cannot be compared with the previous one. It is different. So, Cambodia and other countries alike need to charge for treatment costs because we can’t let anyone come for treatment free of charge,” he said.
According to a May 20 government decision, foreigners travelling to Cambodia must have at least $50,000 in health insurance.
And starting June 15, Cambodia a lso requ i res foreig n travellers to deposit $3,000 for testing, quarantine and travel l i ng i nclud i ng c over i ng treatment costs in case t hey t e s t posit i ve for Cov id-19 while in Cambodia.
Government spokesperson Phay Siphan said the government reversed its earlier decision because the virus is gravely affecting the economy.
He said it has become the international standard for
countries to charge for treatment ser v ices and require for eign travellers to have health insurance.
“It is very important because t he d i s e a s e t e nd s t o b e imported f rom abroad a nd our resources are only for our cit izens,” he said.
Soksensan confirmed that the government had reserved from $800 million to $2 billion for its fight against Covid-19. The government has so far spent more than $1 billion on it.
Phan Phalla, the head of an inter-ministerial working group for business registration, said the government is currently thinking hard to prepare a budget to be used immediately to support economic activities.
“How much we will spend on [Covid-19] we don’t know yet,” he said.
The Ministry of Health has confirmed that Cambodia has a total of 128 Covid-19 patients. Of the 125 who have since recovered, 71 are foreign nationals who received free treatment.