Cambodia asks tourists to pay $3,000 ‘Coronavirus deposit’, including fee for cremation

As tourism slowly resumes around the world after suffering months of lockdown in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many nations are still reluctant to open their borders completely. However, Cambodia has imposed perhaps the toughest entry requirements of any country. The south-east Asian country is one of the most popular tourist sites, renowned for the UNESCO-listed temple complex at Angkor Wat.

In its latest bulletin, the Foreign Office of Cambodia (FCO) stated that foreign travellers must pay a $3,000 deposit as “COVID-19 service charges” at the airport upon their arrival. This “coronavirus deposit” can be paid in cash or by credit card.

The FCO further said that after deductions for services have been made, the remaining deposit will be returned. But those deductions may be exorbitant, especially if another passenger on the same flight happens to test positive for Coronavirus.

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Break up of the ‘coronavirus deposit’

Mandatory fees begin with a $5 charge for transport from the airport to a testing centre. The COVID-19 test itself costs a $100. The traveller must then pay $30 for an overnight stay at the specified hotel or ‘waiting centre,’ and the same again for three meals a day while waiting for the test results.

With this, the traveller will have spent just $132 of the amount deposited. They will then have to self-isolate for 14 days in their desired accommodation.

In case a passenger on their flight tests positive for coronavirus, everyone on that flight will be quarantined in government-approved accommodation for two weeks. This would cost the traveller $1,176 including meals, laundry and sanitary services. They must also pay another $100 for a second COVID-19 test, taking the total expenditure to $1,283.

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Coronavirus treatment fees and ‘cremation charges’

If the traveller happens to be a Coronavirus-positive patient, he or she will have to undergo four tests of $100 each, with additional $3,150 for treatment at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital in the capital, Phnom Penh.

This exhausts the deposit limit, which is why a traveller must carry a proof insurance that has a minimum of $50,000 medical cover

. If the unfortunate traveller passes away, the Foreign Office said that the cremation service charge is $1,500.

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