Siem Reap: Within 24 hours of the lifting of Siem Reap’s red zones, Provincial Governor, Tea Seiha, has warned that he will not hesitate to ask the Prime Minister to re-impose the red zones “if people continue to violate the health measures of 3 do’s and 3 don’t’s and cause serious infections in the community again.”

The provincial administration of Siem Reap ended the designation of red and yellow zones on Thursday. They were introduced earlier last week in response to a rise in cases blamed on complacency.

The Governor says, “My intentions to authorities at all levels are only two: 1. Protect your people from Covid-19 infections by cutting off the source of infection and 2. Getting Siem Reap back to its original state with a large number of national and international tourists in the area, which allows people to have jobs and earn money to support their livelihood.” He added that it was unfortunate that a small number of people had flouted preventative measures forcing the imposition of red zones in and around the city, but which have now been lifted.

Siem Reap is seen as key to restarting international tourism in the Kingdom. Prime Minister Hun Sen announced last month that he was considering allowing fully-vaccinated tourists to quarantine for seven days in Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, without the need to quarantine in a hotel. Tourists would need only spend seven days in their town of arrival before being allowed to travel freely across the rest of the country. Getting Siem Reap’s Covid-19 situation under control is seen as critical to this plan.