Banteay Meanchey: Banteay Meanchey has reopened its border with Thailand, but only to facilitate the return of 463 migrant workers. They’d faced the prospect of a further week camping along the border, with all the kingdom’s other border crossings with Thailand closed until next Friday.

The Boeung Thrakoun border crossing was reopened on Friday morning, in cooperation with Thai authorities. A total of 463 Cambodian migrant workers were able to cross back into the kingdom. They’ve been taken to the local quarantine centre after undergoing rapid tests for Covid-19.

There, they’ll spend the next 21 days – not 14, after the Ministry of Health imposed a mandatory 21 day quarantine for all migrant workers returning from Thailand. The announcement was made on Friday morning following the discovery of an eight-year-old in Sihanoukville who tested positive for the Delta variant, a full 20 days after crossing the border.

Minister of Health, Dr. Mam Bunheng, says the 21-day-quarantine will be for returning migrant workers, as well as anyone who had direct or indirect contact with them. Covid-19 patients with the Delta variant will now also be tested four times. There’ll be three rapid tests at regular intervals, followed by a full blood test on the final day of their quarantine.