Citizens in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, are experiencing anxiety due to the recent rise in the number of positive Covid cases, as well as the decline and interruption of a significant number of people’s income due to the lockdown imposed on the capital which began around a week ago and will continue until the 28th of this month, in an effort by the Cambodian government to control the pandemic, the government is trying to provide food parcels for the poor in the capital Phnom Penh, especially those stuck in the red zone full of cases.
Pov, the Tuktuk driver said “I’m worried! I don’t know how to describe it, I’m afraid to leave my house. In the morning I put my tuk-tuk in front of the house and wait for customers. I can’t even make 5000 Riels (1.25USD) per day.”
Ean Chatrea said, “I’m worried when the number of people that got infected by Covid-19 is getting higher in Cambodia. I’m afraid to go outside of my house. I’m making this video without wearing a mask because I’m alone in the room. I’ve been facing a lot of difficulties during this lockdown. I can’t go to work, it’s difficult to go to buy food in the market because the area that I live in is a designated red zone area meaning many people got infected by the coronavirus in this area. I have my small baby and family living in the province so I cannot go to visit them because of the lockdown.”
Sal Chansy a Cambodian Singer said, “I lost my income because my concerts have been canceled and restaurants (where I used to sing) are closed.”
Steve a Teacher said, “I’ve got mixed feelings about it. On one hand, it’s the right thing to do because it will reduce the cases. For someone like me, I suppose the worst thing that is going to happen is I’m going to be quite bored and have nowhere to go in. But I’m worried more for local Khmer people who are a lot more risking and staying at home for a long time is difficult so I kind of worry about them especially considering the lockdown might go longer than originally planned so I feel for them and hope that everyone is going to be ok.”
Source: A24 News Agency
