Category: Government and Society

On April 14th, the Cambodia government declared a two-week lockdown for the cities of Phnom Penh and Takhmau, 10 miles to the south. Then certain areas of Phnom Penh with greater concentrations of Covid-19 infections were designated as Red Zones and movement and activity was severely restricted.

Phnom Penh’s Bishop Olivier called an online meeting of Catholic NGOs and agencies to explain the present situation, to present the diocese’s response plan, and to encourage the church groups to do more.

A very large part of Cambodia’s workforce is in the informal economy (e.g., scrap dealers, tuk-tuk drivers, construction workers, etc.) and in a lockdown they have no income while prices are getting higher and higher. The Catholic Church’s response has targeted these people and their families who are suffering from food shortages.

Recent Developments:

• The lockdown has been extended another week until 5 May.
• Boeung Keng Kong III, the neighborhood where the Maryknoll office is located, has been declared an Orange Zone (an area of moderate infection). We can still leave the house to buy food, get medical attention, etc.
• The Diocese of Ho Chi Minh City donated four million face masks to the Diocese of Phnom Penh.
• The government has allowed travel between the provinces to resume and has permitted the reopening of resorts and tourist attractions (Maybe not such a great idea when infection numbers are staying quite high.)

The Covid-19 situation in Cambodia is getting worse. The numbers of infections are increasing in Phnom Penh even though we are in Day 12 of a two-week lockdown. And the government response has not been the best. They don’t seem to know what to do and don’t seem to be able to learn from the experience of others or even their own experience. Click on these articles from the Khmer Times to get a sense of what’s happening:

• Government authorities beat food delivery drivers
• Life is difficult in the strictest lockdown areas

It’s Day 11 of a two-week lockdown, you can’t go out of the apartment, and it’s raining…. What do you do? This young couple enjoyed just sitting on their balcony on this Sunday afternoon.

The Cambodian government is having a difficult time dealing with the coronavirus. Last night, without any warning, they closed all the markets where the ordinary people buy their food. Families typically go to the market every day to get fresh meat, fish, fruit, and vegetables. It’s just part of the culture and they don’t have refrigerators. It’s going to be difficult for them.

Recently–as I foresee that the current lockdown in Phnom Penh is going to be extended beyond the initial two weeks–I started wondering about food for the future because it has become increasingly difficult to be out for anything. I asked Maria (L) if she and Kila had any experience ordering groceries online and she told me what she had done. And then today they surprised me with a food supply! I didn’t think they would be able to get out on the streets but they managed to get all the way to the Maryknoll office, where I am now living alone, and fortified me with enough basics for the next couple weeks. Thanks, Maria and Kila!

Last Thursday the government imposed a lockdown on Phnom Penh to control the spread of Covid-19. We won’t know for a while whether it is effective or not–and the government has implemented it very clumsily–but at least this morning our neighborhood was basically shut down. The street above is normally very busy at 8:00 AM in the morning.

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The street was not totally quiet, though. Pong, a simple little bakery, was open with their guard outside. And the woman in the stainless steel shop may not have been on duty–she lives above the shop–but put out a few wares just in case someone desperately needed a drying rack for clothes.