Border provinces seek to control flow of migrants
PROVINCIAL authorities on the Cambodian-Thai border continue to expand quarantine centres and strengthen measures to control the flow of workers returning from Thailand, with returnees tested for Covid-19 and isolated.
In Banteay Meanchey province, deputy governor Ros Sophany told The Post on June 7 that the provincial administration had increased efforts to monitor migrant workers from Thailand and tests all arrivals.
“The province has 10 quarantine centres, and there are on average about 100 workers a day returning from Thailand through the province,” she said.
“There are strong measures in place to control returning workers and everybody is checked. When they arrive at the border, we check for the virus. If a worker tests positive, the person is sent to hospital for treatment,” he said.
Sophany added that since the February 20 community outbreak until June 6, the provincial administration have detected nearly 3,000 cases of Covid-19. Of the number, nearly 2,000 patients had recovered and about 1,000 remained hospitalised.
Nearly 1,000 people including returning workers and people from other provinces who had been in contact with infected people are in quarantine.
Similarly, the Pailin Provincial Administration on June 6 was completing work on another quarantine centre on the former compound of Hun Sen Sala Krav High School in Sala Krao district’s O’Andong commune.
Workers returning from Thailand and people from other provinces suspected of having Covid-19 will be kept at the centre.
“Following the Covid-19 preventative measures by the Ministry of Health, the provincial administration has prepared many quarantine centres for people who have come in contact with infected individuals returning from Thailand or from outbreak areas in Cambodia,” the provincial hall said.
In Koh Kong province, deputy governor Tou Savuth said on June 7 that the provincial administration had currently established two quarantine centres in Koh Kong town to accommodate people returning from Thailand and other provinces.
“The number of migrant workers returning from Thailand to Cambodia via the Cham Yeam border checkpoint in Koh Kong is not much, and not many workers tested positive for Covid-19. Our province has managed to bring the infections under control. The province does not carry a risk,” he said.
Savuth added that people who travel from other provinces to Koh Kong will be questioned about their travel itinerary and if they have any health problems. They will have their temperatures taken at the checkpoint. If all is well, they can enter the province.
In Battambang province, deputy governor Soeum Bunrith said on June 7 that the provincial administration had tightened exit and entrance measures for workers on the Cambodian-Thai border.
Bunrith said all migrant workers who returned from Thailand will be quarantined for 14 days first and then directed to their homes for a follow-up health check.