Abstract
Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic has become a global crisis that requires government responses. Cambodia is one of the countries that reported relatively low numbers of cases of COVID-19 infections; however, the number has been significantly rising since 2021. In this study, we provide an overview of the responses to COVID-19 from the Cambodian government, as it is a very important lesson learned for other resource-limited countries and for the next pandemic.
Methods
The paper was mainly based on a review of daily governmental policy documents, regulations or announcements about COVID-19 on official media websites and social media from January 2020 to August 2021. The authors were also involved in various government subcommittees for controlling the spread of COVID-19 in Cambodia.
Results
Cambodia’s COVID-19 responses included (1) preventing the transmission and containment of the outbreak through public health, administrative and technological measures, (2) creating herd immunity and (3) overcoming the economic burden. Public health measures comprised wearing masks, hand washing, physical distancing, screening, contact tracing, quarantine, and treatment. Administrative measures comprise suspending high-risk activities, travel restriction, lockdown and establishing the COVID-19 response management system. Creating herd immunity through the provision of 2 doses of vaccination for adults and children. To overcome the economic burden, the government has developed special assistance programs to support low-income households, such as those whose members died of COVID-19 and whose breadwinner tested COVID-19 positive, and cash assistance to garment factory workers.
Conclusions
The paper has provided an overview of the approaches used by the government in response to COVID-19 that were considered appropriate based on WHO guidance on critical preparedness, readiness, and response actions for COVID-19. The government has put strong efforts into taking into account the risk and the availability of resources to ensure that Cambodia could minimize the risk without overwhelming the healthcare system and stabilize its socioeconomic status.