The Number of COVID-19 Cases Related to the Recent Phnom Penh Outbreak Reaches 234

A vendor sells grilled banana and potatoes on a street in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Feb. 22, 2021. (Photo: Xinhua)
  • Phoung Vantha
  • February 26, 2021 4:56 AM

Patients who caught the disease due to the outbreak in the capital are also identified in Sihanoukville 



PHNOM PENH--The Ministry of Health on Feb. 26 reported 44 new cases of COVID-19 among which 40 are related to the Feb. 20 community outbreak in Phnom Penh and four involve people who had travelled abroad.



Those who contracted the disease due to the Feb. 20 outbreak include 32 Chinese, six Vietnamese and two Cambodian nationals.



Most patients were identified through contact tracing by the Ministry of Health. However, seven of the Chinese patients tested positive for the coronavirus in Sihanoukville when they went to apply for medical certificates to return to China on Feb. 24. They are now being treated at the Preah Sihanouk Province Referral Hospital. And four Chinese nationals tested positive for COVID-19 in Phnom Penh when they applied for medical certificates to return to China on Feb. 24. These four patients are now being treated at the Quarantine Center in Phnom Penh.



This has brought to 234 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.



In view of the cases identified in Sihanoukville, Preah Sihanouk Province Governor Kouch Chamroeun on Feb. 25 issued a temporary closure order of the Chinese residence building where the Chinese COVID-19 patients were staying. No new guest is allowed in and no current guest may leave the condominium building, which is located on Street 210 in Sihanoukville, without the authorization of the authorities, the order read. Moreover, all people in the building must be tested for COVID-19 and go through a 14-day quarantine as instructed by the health authorities.



In addition to cases related to the Feb. 20 community outbreak, the Ministry of Health has reported that a 24-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. 



Moreover, a 28-year-old Indonesian woman who arrived in Cambodia on Feb. 23 and two 32-year-old Chinese women who arrived in Cambodia on Feb 11 tested positive for COVID-19 and are now hospitalized at the Quarantine Center in Phnom Penh.



As of Feb. 26, the total number of cases of COVID-19 infection in Cambodia stood at 740 since the start of the pandemic in 2020. Among them, 477 patients have fully recovered while 263 remain hospitalized.


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