Cambodia sees triple-digit Omicron cases for second straight day

An illustration picture taken in London on December 2, 2021 shows a vial with Covid-19 vaccine sticker attached, beside syringes and a screen displaying the word 'Omicron', the name of the new covid 19 variant. - AFP

PHNOM PENH, Feb. 6 (Xinhua): Cambodia's Ministry of Health (MoH) confirmed 111 COVID-19 Omicron variant cases on Sunday, the second straight day with a triple-digit increase in such cases.

Sixteen of the new infections were imported and 95 were locally transmitted, the MoH said in a statement, adding that the kingdom had reported zero deaths from the Covid-19 for 33 days.

Cambodia detected the first Omicron cases on Dec. 14, according to the MoH. The country has so far registered a total of 1,332 Omicron cases, including 544 imported and 788 community cases.

World Health Organization (WHO)'s representative to Cambodia Li Ailan said Omicron is more transmissible than the Delta variant, so it is very likely that the kingdom will soon see a high number of new cases.

"Omicron causes less severe disease than Delta, but it remains a dangerous virus, particularly for those who are unvaccinated, and for the most vulnerable including the elderly and those with other chronic diseases," she said in a statement.

She said all the WHO Emergency Use Listing vaccines remain effective against severe disease, hospitalization and death, but they are less effective against virus infection and transmission.

"Cambodia community is highly vaccinated and we are in a much better place than many other countries. However, there remain pockets of people who have not yet been fully vaccinated," Li said.

The Southeast Asian nation has so far administered at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines to 14.36 million people, or 89.7 percent of its 16 million population, the MoH said, adding that of them, 13.77 million, or 86 percent, have been fully vaccinated with two required shots.

Most of the vaccines used in the country's inoculation campaign are China's Sinovac and Sinopharm.

According to the MoH, since the pandemic hit Cambodia in January 2020, the kingdom has logged a total of 121,773 cases, with 3,015 deaths and 118,122 recoveries. - Xinhua