PHNOM PENH, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on Wednesday encouraged people to avoid shaking hands in order to help prevent the COVID-19 infection.
Instead of shaking hands, he said people should use Cambodian traditionally greeting style Sampeah (placing both palms together at the chest level) to greet each other.
"We should avoid shaking hands until the COVID-19 is over. Instead, we use the gesture of Sampeah to greet each other, it's easy and fast," he said in a speech during the closing ceremony of the Health Ministry's annual conference here.
Cambodia confirmed the first and only case of COVID-19 on Jan. 27. The victim is a 60-year-old Chinese man from the central China's city of Wuhan. He was discharged from the hospital on Feb. 10 after fully recovering from the disease.
Hun Sen said so far, there has been no new confirmed case of the virus in the kingdom.
Meanwhile, the prime minister announced that to save the state's budget for any unpredictable outbreak of the COVID-19, he decided to reduce 25 percent of the budget for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Council of Ministers, and slash 50 percent of the budget for other ministries and state institutions.
However, salaries for civil servants and armed forces would not be reduced, he said.
"Fighting the COVID-19 is the top priority task for Cambodia at the present," he said.
Hun Sen also renewed his calls on the people to practice hygiene in order to protect themselves from the COVID-19.
Cambodian Health Ministry secretary of state and spokeswoman Or Vandine said the Southeast Asian country remained vigilant over the COVID-19, saying that thermal scanners have been installed at all airports, ports and border checkpoints since early January to screen the temperatures of passengers.
