As I mentioned last time, this has been by far the most serious outbreak of COVID-19 that Cambodia has experienced. The country went into full lockdown for several weeks and then, slowly, transitioned to a zone based lockdown.

• Red Zones: Areas with high rates of community transmission. Complete lockdown. Families are allowed to leave homes once per week to get food from government vendors.
• Orange Zones: Areas with some community transmission. Partial lockdown. Families are allowed to leave home to work or to shop three times a week, but traffic in and out of the zone is monitored.
• Yellow Zones: Areas with no record of community transmission. No lockdown but COVID-19 precautions like social distancing and mask wearing are mandated.

Cambodia has continued to keep all public markets closed, keep all schools closed, banned the sale of alcohol, and instituted a curfew from 9PM to 5AM. Food is still being sold in the city by vendors using carts, in smaller shops, and in supermarkets. We don’t think that in person school will resume this school year. I think this one has to do more with public order than public health, but Cambodia is serious about banning alcohol and a 2 star General was court martialed for violating this ban.

During the full lockdown, there were major concerns about food being inaccessible and people going hungry. Now, with the structure, for most of the population it’s now less about food being completely inaccessible and more about work disruptions leaving people without money to purchase food. This is particular severe for garment factory workers who were already struggling due to the pandemic, loss of the Everything But Arms trade agreement with the EU, and the Suez canal blockage. We’re currently working with DOVE – a successor organization of the Evangelical Fellowship of Cambodia’s Kingdom Equipping Youth program – on food relief targeting this demographic as well as continuing an initiative for red zones where food inaccessibility remains an issue.