Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen has approved the deportation of any foreigners who violate the COVID-19 quarantine rules, escape treatment and refuse cooperation with authorities.

On-duty Cambodian competent forces in Koh Pich. (Source: VNA)

For foreigners, they will be deported from Cambodia and banned from re-entering the country, said a letter signed by Hun Sen on 23 February. "For Cambodians, they will face the country's law."

The letter said any companies which ignore cooperation with the authorities in tracing suspicious cases will see their licences revoked and their businesses shut down.

The move was to strengthen efficiency in containing the spread of the COVID-19 in the community, it added.

The decision was made after two of four who escaped from quarantine at the Sokha Hotel, by bribing two security guards, are believed to have caused the current community outbreak with 99 positive cases recorded.

Cambodia on 23 February reported 25 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections in the country to 593, said a Ministry of Health (MoH) statement.

The new infections included 23 locally-transmitted cases, including three cases of the variant first found in Britain, and two imported cases, the statement said.

It said the two imported cases were found on Cambodian UN peacekeepers who returned to the country from the Central African Republic.

Source: VNA