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Japanese National Who Left from Cambodia Tests Positive for Coronavirus in Japan

• Phoung Vantha
• March 5, 2020 8:14 AM

The governor of Siem Reap has stressed that the unidentified Japanese man had previously traveled in the region.

PHNOM PENH--The governor of Siem Reap on Thursday claimed that a Japanese man who tested positive for COVID-19 in Nagoya, Japan on March 4, had traveled to several places, including the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Throughout his travels, the Japanese national had been scanned and showed no signs of the virus, the governor claimed.

Siem Reap Provincial Hall confirmed that the unidentified Japanese man is living in Siem Reap where he operates a business and is not a tourist, but has since been admitted to hospital in Japan.  

Provincial Governor Tea Seiha said that before leaving Cambodia, the Japanese man had been examined with a result no coronavirus, but gave no indication as to how the Japanese national had been tested or who had done the testing. 

The Japanese man arrived in Cambodia on Feb. 16 through Vietnam and visited the Philippines on Feb. 21 before returning to Cambodia a week later on Feb. 28. 

On March 3, he apparently visited an unnamed hospital in Cambodia for a check-up and did so without giving his name, according to the Cambodian Embassy in Japan, who on Thursday released a statement through Minister for Information Khieu Kanharith’s Facebook page.

On March 3, the Japanese man flew to Nagoya, Japan but caught a connecting flight from Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam. According to reports from Vietnamese news outlets, the man reported symptoms of fever onboard the flight and tested positive for COVID-19 when he arrived in Japan. 

The Japanese Ministry of Health has not officially announced that case yet, Siem Reap Provincial Hall said. 

Despite numerous attempts, the Ministry of Health could not be reached for comment on March 5, 2020.