Cambodia: COVID-infected woman forced to work by Chinese-owned casino dies

A woman in Cambodia, who was employed at a Chinese-owned casino, died after her employers forced her to continue working even though she was infected with COVID-19. According to ANI, the deceased woman identified as Hean Sreynich used to work at The Century Casino. Sreynich had contracted the deadly virus five days ago and she died of food poisoning and dehydration, the doctors consulted by the victim’s family said. 

Sreynich’s cousin Ros Leng reportedly said that her family has urged Cambodian authorities to order the Chinese owner of the casino to pay them compensation for forcing her to continue working while ill. Leng said that the casino did not inform Sreynich’s relatives about her death or offer to pay them her salary. Leng also added that the family learned about her demise from her coworkers. 

The news of Sreynich’s death comes days after it was reported that around 437 employees of The Century Casino had contract COVID-19. A group, in a Facebook live stream, had said that they were forced to perform their jobs, including managing online gambling platforms, while they were ill. The group even claimed that they had been forced to remain inside the building since March without any treatment. 

Cambodia's COVID-19 crisis 

Meanwhile, Cambodia’s official daily coronavirus case numbers tumbled 76 per cent in one day after PM Hun Sen told officials to stop administering rapid tests to people who don’t show symptoms. According to Nikkei Asia, Cambodia on Friday reported 232 cases, down from 978 the previous day. The country’s health ministry informed that the numbers were detected via PCR testing, suggesting that positive cases from the rapid antigen tests were not counted. 

This comes amid a time when Cambodia’s caseload had been steadily rising in recent weeks. The dramatic fall in cases on Friday, on the other hand, came after audio emerged of the Prime Minister instructing officials to only test people who exhibit symptoms. In the audio clip, Hun Sen is heard complaining that authorities were needlessly going into the community and finding asymptomatic carriers. He is heard instructing his subordinates to stop proactive testing, and instead, set up sites where people experiencing symptoms could get tested. 

(With inputs from ANI)