Phnom Penh, March 02, 2020 –Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, has once again called on his compatriots to join hands in combating the spread of COVID-19.
While presiding over the graduation ceremony of over 1,500 students of Asia-Euro University held here this morning, Samdech Techo Hun Sèn appealed for more attention and collaboration in preventing the COVID-19 transmission.
The Premier also took the opportunity to remind the public of strict self-sanitation, stressing that each of us can fight against COVID-19 and fear is more dangerous than COVID-19.
“The main choice of self-protection is yourself. No one can wash your hands instead of yourself,” he underlined.
Samdech Techo Hun Sen reaffirmed the Royal Government’s commitment to combat COVID-19, including the cooperation between the Ministry of Health, WHO, the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, etc.
Regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, WHO is urging all countries to optimise availability of oxygen-therapy equipment for patients who develop severe COVID-19.
In its daily report from Geneva Sunday, the WHO said it was working to “better understand, in real time, the clinical presentation, natural history and treatment interventions.”
The UN agency said a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association last week found that only 2.1 percent of 44,672 patients in China were below the age of 20.
“The most commonly reported symptoms included fever, dry cough, and shortness of breath,” it said.
About 80 percent of the Chinese patients were only mildly ill. About 14 percent were severely affected and 5 percent were critically ill, with severity reportedly associated with age — 60 years or more — and other conditions.
“Oxygen therapy is the major treatment intervention for patients with severe COVID-19,” the WHO said.
“All countries should work to optimise the availability of pulse oximeters (instruments measuring oxygenated hemoglobin in the blood) and medical oxygen systems.”
With more than 50 percent of the critically ill dying, “implementation of proven critical care interventions such as lung protective ventilation should be optimised.”
In the absence of effective antiviral drugs for COVID-19, the agency said clinical trials were evaluating several therapeutic interventions globally including ritonavir/lopinavir and remdesivir.
By Khan Sophirom & Sao Da
