Gatherings allowed again after end of ‘Nov 3 event’

Prime Minister Hun Sen has declared an end to the “Nov 3 event”, which saw more than 1,000 people quarantined following a visit by Covid-19-positive Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto, and allowed people to organise gatherings as long as they upheld hygiene standards and health protocols.

Hun Sen also announced that movie theatres and museums will be allowed to reopen.

Training schools in Phnom Penh and Kandal province would also resume on Monday.

“I would like to request authorities at all levels to allow brothers and sisters to organise wedding ceremonies, ” he said in a recorded statement.

“Just pay attention to the problems relating to hygiene practices and what is needed according to the Health Ministry guidelines.”

In a letter on Thursday, Hun Sen also applauded the efforts of Institut Pasteur du Cambodge (IPC) director Laurence Baril and the medical task force that tested Cambodian officials and others who were found to be in contact with the Hungarian delegation.

“This gesture clearly showed her strong commitment to working with the Cambodian government to overcome this unprecedented global crisis, ” he said.

Even if Covid-19 cases were surging in the region and the globe, he said he believed that with the strong support of the IPC under Baril’s leadership, Cambodia would be able to withstand the global threat

Meanwhile, Health Ministry spokeswoman Or Vandine has publicly praised Hun Sen for his handling of the Covid-19 crisis.

In an article, she credited Hun Sen for carrying Cambodia through the complicated and dangerous stages of Covid-19 transmission with wisdom, compassion and clarity. — Phnom Penh Post/ANN