Hanoi (VNA) – Lockdown measures havebeen imposed in a number of localities in Cambodia to curb the spread ofCOVID-19 while the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan of 400million USD for the Philippines to purchase COVID-19 vaccines.

In Cambodia, the administration of Kep provincehas announced that people from the cities and provinces linked to the “February20 Community Event” will be required to test for COVID-19 and stay inquarantine for 14 days when they arrive in this coastal province.

While Kep, the smallest province in Cambodia,has not found any COVID-19 cases related to the February 20 event, Phnom Penhcapital and other eight provinces, namely Kandal, Sihanoukville, Prey Veng,Svay Reang, Kampong Thom, Kampong Cham, Battambang, and Siem Reap, havebeen hit hard by this third wave of coronavirus infections, with many areasalready put under lockdown.

Authorities in Prey Veng province have orderedshutdowns of all local schools after 23 new infection cases were reported onMarch 11 morning, forcing schools to adopt online teaching and learningpractices.

In the face of the latest outbreak, theCambodian Senate at an extraordinary session on March 11 passed a draft law onmeasures to contain the spread of COVID-19 and other dangerous contagiousdiseases.

Later the same day, Acting Head of State SayChhum endorsed this law on behalf of King Norodom Sihamoni, who has been in Chinafor a routine medical check-up.

The Cambodian Ministry of Health confirmed 62new COVID-19 cases on March 12 morning, including 60 linked with the “February20 Community Event”. The country has seen 1,225 infections so far, including619 recoveries and one death.

Meanwhile, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) saidon March 12 that it has approved a 400-million-USD loan to help the Philippinespurchase COVID-19 vaccines.

The bank said this country is the firstrecipient of financing support under the ADB's Asia Pacific Vaccine AccessFacility (APVAX) initiative worth 9 billion USD. 

The loan will assist the Philippine Departmentof Health in procuring and ensuring delivery to the country of vaccinescertified by the WHO-led COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facility andbilateral vaccine suppliers that meet APVAX eligibility criteria.

The ADB said the project, to be supported with300 million USD in co-financing from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank(AIIB), will fund the procurement of up to 110 million doses of COVID-19vaccines.

The Philippines has one of the highest numbersof COVID-19 infections in Southeast Asia, with 607,048 confirmed cases as ofMarch 11, including 12,608 deaths.

On March 1, it began vaccinations of frontlinehealthcare workers using a batch of the Sinovac vaccines donated by China. Thecountry also received last week an additional 525,600 doses of AstraZenecavaccines from the COVAX facility.

The Philippines is negotiating to buy over 160million vaccine doses from different pharmaceutical firms this year. Itsgovernment aims to vaccinate up to 70 million Filipinos of the 110 millionpopulation this year to achieve herd immunity, starting with health careworkers, the elderly, and the poor communities./.