Hanoi places Cambodia borders under control in latest Covid wave

Since the New Year, a new wave of infections has swept through Phnom Penh. The Cambodian capital, along with Takhmao, is in lockdown. Many Vietnamese also return home by illegal means, risking to infect the country. For transport from Cambodia to Vietnam, traffickers demand 350 US dollars. In the past two months, 14,000 people have crossed the border in Kiên Giang province.

Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews) - The Vietnamese health authorities have warned the Hanoi government to step up controls of the south-west and north-west border crossings with Cambodia. The aim is to limit the risk of spreading the Covid 19 pandemic, which has reached worrying levels in Cambodia.

Phnom Penh recently celebrated the New Year (Chol Chnam Thmay, April 14-16). The ensuing gatherings sparked a new wave of infections. According to the ministry of health, there are 8193 people infected with coronavirus in Cambodia. Of these, 2924 are hospitalized and 59 have died. Most of the infected are in the capital which, together with the city of Takhmao, has been under lockdown since April 15. The country's hospitals are close to collapse.

As a result, many Vietnamese who are in Cambodia for work are trying to return to their cities of origin, crossing the borders and risking spread of the infection in Vietnam as well, where Covid seems to be under control to date.

At least 9 Cambodian provinces, all bordering Vietnam, have pandemic problems. In the province of Kiên Giang - on the Mekong delta, next to the province of Sihanoukville - for example, since February 20, the authorities have stopped 142 people attempting to return to Vietnam illegally.

On April 19, five girls tried to cross the sea by canoe to get to the island of Phú Quốc (province of Kiên Giang). The girls were arrested. It turned out that for a return to Vietnam, each had to pay around US $ 350 to local traffickers.

On the same day, 13 nurses and doctors arrived in Kiên Giang from Chợ Rẫy hospital in Ho Chi Minh City to set up an emergency hospital for 500 patients who have returned from Cambodia.

The province of Đồng Tháp, slightly north of Kiên Giang, shares at least 50 km of border with Pray Veng in Cambodia. Here too there is a Vietnamese "flight from the epidemic". Over the past 10 days, Đồng Tháp authorities have discovered and blocked more than 500 cases of illegal border entry. There are also illegal exits to check: they are mainly Chinese who come as far as Đồng Tháp and An Giang to go to work in Cambodia.

Another route from Cambodia to Vietnam is the city of Hà Tiên (province of Kiên Giang). From February 20 to April 22, at least 1300 people crossed the border. Of these, 31 were illegal. The authorities had to arrange accommodation for 303 people to isolate them in quarantine.

Since last February, in the province of Kiên Giang, out of 14 thousand people who crossed the border and underwent tests, 38 of them tested positive for the virus.