Cambodia stops requiring Covid-19 tests for international visitors

Today, Cambodia stopped requiring international travellers to test for Covid-19 upon entering the country. Visitors still must be fully vaccinated, with proof of vaccination, to avoid two weeks of quarantine. Cambodian authorities also plan to issue visas on arrival again, which were suspended before due to Covid-19. The country’s Ministry of Health didn’t confirm when this would start, though.

Cambodia has had 3,049 deaths from Covid-19. It has had a total of over 134,000 cases. Cambodia has vaccinated 92.31% of its population of 16 million people. This is among the highest vaccination rates in Southeast Asia. It was also one of the first countries in the world to vaccinate children under five years old.

Even though testing is no longer mandatory, the Ministry of Health still urges travellers to test themselves.

The number of international travellers arriving in Cambodia fell by 90% from 2020 to 2021. There were 113,000 foreign arrivals in 2021. The World Bank says tourism provided two million jobs in the country before Covid-19 struck. Money made from the country’s famous Angkor Wat temple dropped by a whopping 98% from 2020 to 2021.

Cambodia’s Prime Minister said dropping mandatory testing should help the tourism economy.

“Now it’s the stage to open the economy by learning how to live with COVID”.

SOURCE: Reuters | Worldometers