Cambodia vaulted to second place, after China’s Taiwan, in the latest edition of Nikkei’s COVID-19 Recovery Index, from 22nd in December, after the Southeast Asian nation declared it would start to live with coronavirus about three months ago, according to NIKKEI Asia.
The index assesses countries and regions on infection management, vaccine rollouts and social mobility. The higher the ranking, the closer a place is to recovery, characterised by fewer infections, bigger inoculation rates and less-strict social distancing measures. The latest ranking reflects conditions up to the end of January.
Cambodia has been steadily climbing the ladder in recent months. It recorded fewer than 1,000 cases in January and saw no COVID deaths for a month.
The country’s early success in managing the coronavirus — with under 500 reported cases and no deaths one year into the pandemic — was upended by a major outbreak that started in February 2021. That continued for much of last year and strained the underfunded public health system, triggering widespread lockdowns.
Nevertheless, Cambodia pressed ahead with its inoculation drive, relying mainly on Chinese-made vaccines. By November, it had surpassed its vaccination target, prompting Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen to order a full reopening. Later that month, Cambodia became one of the first members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to exempt fully vaccinated travelers from quarantine.
According to the Ministry of Health’s report, as Feb. 4, 89.75 percent of the total Cambodian population of 16 million had received the basic doses, while over 5.7 million people had been given the 3rd shot and some 490,000 got the 4th dose.
Source: Agency Kampuchea Press