As Many as 65 New COVID-19 Cases Are Identified in the Country
Ministry of Health spokesperson Or Vandine is shown during one of her regular press conferences on the situation in the country regarding the pandemic. Photo: Cambodianess.com.
- Phoung Vantha
- February 25, 2021 5:03 AM
While most of them are linked to the community outbreak in the capital, the origin of those in Preah Sihanouk Province remains unclear
PHNOM PENH--The Ministry of Health on Feb. 25 reported 65 new cases of COVID-19 among which 58 are related to the Feb. 20 community outbreak and seven consist of people involved in international travel.
The 58 people to have contracted the disease due to the Feb. 20 outbreak consist of 41 Chinese, nine Vietnamese, five Cambodian, one Japanese, one Korean and one Singaporean nationals. All the patients are based in Phnom Penh and are now being treated at the Quarantine Center in Phnom Penh. This has brought to 194 the number of cases linked to this community outbreak that originated in Phnom Penh and has led to 63 locations being closed in the capital.
A 65-year-old Cambodian man who served overseas as a United Nations peacekeeper tested positive for the coronavirus upon his return to Cambodia on Feb. 21. He is being treated at the Training Centre for Multinational Peacekeeping Forces in Kampong Speu Province. On Feb. 23, the Ministry of Health had reported that two other Cambodian men who had served as United Nations peacekeepers had tested positive for COVID-19.
The other six coronavirus cases reported on Feb. 25 involve four Chinese men and two Chinese women in Sihanoukville who tested positive when they applied for medical certificates to return to China on Feb. 22. They are now being treated at the Preah Sihanouk Province Referral Hospital.
On Feb. 24, the Ministry of Health had also reported that two Chinese women in Sihanoukville Province had tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 22 when they attempted to obtain medical certificates to return to China.
Neither Or Vandine, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, nor Dr. Li Ailan, World Health Organisation's representative in Cambodia, on Feb. 25 responded to requests for clarification regarding these COVID-19 cases in Sihanoukville that the Cambodian authorities have described as "imported.” It remains unclear whether these patients were living in Cambodia prior to testing positive for COVID-19 or were found to have contracted the disease upon arrival in Cambodia.
In the meantime, a Cambodian woman who had tested positive for COVID-19 when she came back from the United States on Feb. 7 has been released from hospital after testing negative twice.
As of Feb. 25, the total number of cases of COVID-19 infection in Cambodia stood at 697 cases since the start of the pandemic in 2020. Among them, 477 patients have fully recovered while 217 remain hospitalized.
