Phnom Penh (VNA) - Up to 95 percent of the Cambodian factories are operating as usual during the traditional New Year period in an effort to curb the spread of the COVID-19, according to officials.

Most factory workers have not taken leave for going to their home provinces on the holiday and only 5 percent of the workers are taking emergency leave, said Cambodia’s Labour Ministry spokesman Heng Sour on April 13

The Cambodian government has also called for urgent actions on food security. Minister of Agriculture Veng Sakhon has ordered all agriculture departments to take immediate measures to ensure the country’s food security.

Sakhon told the General Directorate of Agriculture to record the stock of paddy and rice in mills, communities and in each household and asked the General Directorate of Animal Health and Production to make an estimate on the amount of local demand for meat in 2020.

The purpose is to provide a foundation for raising livestock levels to ensure adequate supplies of meat during the pandemic.

In addition, he instructed the Fisheries Administration to estimate the demand and supply of aquatic products to ensure that they fulfill domestic demand and the market price is stable.

Meanwhile, Brunei reported no new COVID-19 cases on April 13, and the country's tally stood at 136 since the first one was detected on March 9. As many as 107 patients have recovered.

However, seven recovered patients who had been discharged from the National Isolation Centre (NIC) were found to be positive with the virus again.

All of the patients have been re-admitted to the NIC. People having close contact with them were required to carry out laboratory tests and undergo 14-day quarantine./.