Page 51 - The lraternational Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand.indd

The International Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand
Volume XV-2023

Figure 3 A VMW performs G6PD test using biosensor in a village in Kravanh

Timelines and administrative challenges

Early in the pandemic, many Southeast Asian countries were added to watch
lists as high-risk countries, and whilst Cambodia wasn’t initially on these lists it was
quickly added. Being part of the University of Oxford, MORU was, therefore, subject

to many of the rules and regulations instituted in the UK and those imposed by
Mahidol University, Thailand. As a result, scientific research in Cambodia was not
only impacted by the COVID-19 situation in Cambodia, but also by that in Thailand,
the U.K, and for one particular study, Australia.

Despite limited testing capacity, the first few COVID-19 cases in Cambodia were

discovered by early March 2020, and although neighbouring countries, such as
Thailand, began implementing travel restrictions there were no restrictions on travel
into Cambodia initially. Despite being initially sceptical of the threat posed by
COVID-19, as further cases were identified, the Cambodian government, ordered

the closure of schools, restaurants, bars and casinos and limited entry visas for
foreigners. For MORU researchers based in Bangkok, this proved problematic as
they were required to frequently travel to Cambodia to oversee and coordinate
ongoing research projects. Consequently, a large burden of responsibility fell on the

sole remaining MORU researcher who was based in Cambodia when the COVID-19
pandemic began.

By the end of March 2020, the first direct impact of COVID-19 on research in
Cambodia was felt when researchers collectively decided to stop all community
meetings and pause recruitment into “the malaria prophylaxis with the artemether-

lumefantrine trial” (the only active trial at that time), with only those already recruited
continuing to be followed up. With limited information available on how COVID-19

Dysoley Lek et al. 43