Five COVID-19 Patients Recover and No New Case Is Identified, the Ministry of Health Says
People take part in a religious ceremony at the Wat Koh pagoda in Phnom Penh on the first day of the Kan Ben religious festival on Sept. 3. Photo: Ou Sokmean
- Phoung Vantha
- September 3, 2020 7:09 AM
Both Health Ministry and Ministry of Cults and Religions tell people to be vigilant during Pchum Ben
PHNOM PENH—The Ministry of Health Thursday (Sept 3) announced that five patients have made a full recovery from the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and have been discharged from hospital.
One of the patients is a 26-year-old Cambodian man who lives in Phnom Penh and had returned to the country from Russia on Aug. 19, the ministry said in a press release. The other patients are Chinese men, 20 to 27 years old, who travelled from the Philippines to Cambodia on Aug. 9.
This brings to 271 the number of COVID-19 patients to have recovered from the disease. Three coronavirus patients remain hospitalized, the ministry said, adding that no new case has been identified at this point.
Both the Health Ministry and the Ministry of Cults and Religions issued statements on Sept. 3 to remind the general public and Buddhist monks to wear masks, use hand disinfectant and adhere to basic hygiene measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as people go to pagodas over the next weeks
Usually referred to as Pchum Ben, or Festival for the Dead, the festival actually consists of two celebrations, according to a Cambodian government release issued on Sept. 3.
The religious Kan Ben Festival, which began on Sept. 3, includes Pchum Ben, which will fall on Sept. 17—Kan Ben’s 15th day—and is one of the country’s most important religious celebrations.
In its statement, the Ministry of Health said that pagodas must have hand disinfectant and temperature scanners for all those who come during the celebrations, and must make sure that people stay at the appropriate distance from each other.
