PHNOM PENH, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's COVID-19 case total has surged to 80,225 on Thursday after 591 fresh infections were confirmed across the country, the health ministry said in a statement.
The new infections included 408 domestic cases and 183 imported ones, the ministry said.
Nineteen more fatalities were reported, taking the overall death toll to 1,507, it said, adding that 618 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 73,421.
The Southeast Asian nation launched a COVID-19 vaccination drive for adults on Feb. 10 and for adolescents aged 12 to 17 on Aug. 1, targeting to inoculate 12 million people including 10 million adults and 2 million adolescents, or 75 percent of its 16-million population by November.
As of Aug. 4, some 7.7 million people including 7.54 million adults and 163,201 adolescents have received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccines, accounting for 48 percent of the kingdom's total population, the ministry said.
The World Health Organization representative to Cambodia Li Ailan said that vaccines are highly effective against severe illness and death caused by COVID-19 variants, including Delta.
"More & more vulnerable people have been vaccinated & protected against severe disease. Congratulations to Cambodia for this remarkable achievement," she wrote on Twitter. "Getting vaccinated can save your life and protect you from severe disease."
Cambodia currently uses China's Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines and Britain's AstraZeneca in its vaccination process. Enditem
