SIEM REAP: Prime Minister Hun Sen has said that he ordered his agents to secretly inspect karaoke venues and found that most of the people who entered these venues did not wear masks, and yet there have been no cases of infections in those locations, which has led the Prime Minister to wonder about the effectiveness of herd immunity.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the official use of 38 roads in Siem Reap on Monday morning (4 April 2022), Prime Minister Hun Sen said that he is now considering trying to lift the mandate on wearing masks in one or two provinces, in order to assess the effectiveness of herd immunity.

The Prime Minister said, "This is not what I want, to test people! But even though we blocked it, it was difficult for karaoke bars in Phnom Penh. I sent my agent in, no one was wearing masks and they streamed it online to me to see at 1 o'clock. And that group did not start until 10 or 11 o'clock at night, and they finished at 3 o'clock, no mask-wearing, jumping around and drinking! But no one got sick, so I started wondering and thinking that at some point it will be possible to stop wearing masks, in one or two provinces first to test."

As of 3 April 2022, Cambodia has vaccinated more than 92% of its 16 million population against Covid-19. The current daily infection rate is at around 30 cases, and the mortality rate has been low in recent days.