Cambodia enters lockdown again, but does this mean that the party is now over? I initially came to Cambodia whilst fleeing Coronavirus in China (via a few other adventures). What I expected to last a few months will soon be coming up to one year. Something I might not have wanted, or expected, but something that has in many ways been amazing. (CD Photo: Khmer Time)
Living with Coronavirus in Cambodia
Being in Cambodia has been like living in a bubble watching the rest of the world fall apart. Of course there are economic issues related to coronavirus here, but by and large things have been “normal”. Life has continued and to be fair the government has done a good job of stemming any issues. Proactive rather than reactive. Yes we wear masks, yes there have been closures, but life has been largely normal.
To read the article I wrote on this subject click here.
After writing about this and posting in various forums I got the usual grumpy expat response about how “shit” things were. Frankly total rubbish, if yo do not feel lucky being in Cambodia then you frankly can’t read the news, or should just leave. WE have been welcomed here as guests and looked after very well by our hosts. It is that simple.
February 20th “event”
On February 20th an “event” occurred whereby some people allegedly paid a security guard to skip quarantine. What could go wrong? Well 30+ cases and 47 venues closed down.
And with this being a virus, well it obviously wants to spread. As of today there have been two further cases in Sihanoukville, resulting in the closure of 4 hotels, whilst the government tries to do track and trace. Not easy when the infected took Tuk-Tuk’s as well as going to weddings and well partying like it was 1999.
What does this mean? Well who the hell very knows! It could obviously go either way. Everything will depend greatly on if things get better, or get worse. Again to give the government some credit, the track record has been pretty good.
To read more about the February 20th event click here
Cambodia enters lockdown – February 2021
Cambodian lockdown has pretty much mirrored previous ones so far in that schools have been closed, affected areas closed and the poor old cinema again being shut down. There are also various instances of self-censorship where restaurants have moved to delivery only. Full details are sketchy at best, largely due to this whole thing being only 4 days old.
Again how things move and if they get worse will depend on how quickly the virus is contained, or spreads. Although this has not stopped the rumor mill! There is talk of the boats to the islands being stopped, as well as Phnom Penh being quarantined, although again it should be noted that these are rumours. (CD Photo:Khmer Time)
Don’t be racist, but also don’t cheat quarantine
Despite the initial outbreak coming from the Chinese community the government were quick and indeed correct to tell people not to be racist. Really the nationality does not matter, obviously the majority of Chinese in Cambodia follow the rules, BUT whenever there have been people skipping quarantine it has tended to be by foreigners.
I’m going to give this its own article, but it truly does beg the question, what kind of a-hole skips quarantine? I say this as someone who left China and self-quarantined for 2 weeks. All of my colleagues have also done quarantine, and we have certainly respected the rules put in place by the Cambodian government.
This should ring true if you are in your own country, but even more so when you are the guest in another country. If you flout quantize rules you not only deserve to be deported, but frankly put in jail. Coronavirus kills people and kills economies. It is all of our duties to help destroy it. If you are not part of the solution you are very much part of the problem.
Is the party over?
No one knows yet and we can but hope for the best. In the short term though, we all owe it to our hosts to do the best we can to contain it. For a weeks at least, time to chill.