The Health Ministry on Wednesday announced 34 new Covid-19 cases, all related to the “February 20” cluster, including two women who had been quarantined at a hotel in Svay Rieng province, the first confirmed cases found there.
The ministry said 10 of the cases were in Sihanoukville, which has seen a recent uptick in cases, and 22 in Phnom Penh, with the majority in Tonle Bassac commune in Chamkarmon district.
The Phnom Penh patients are being treated at the Phnom Penh Quarantine Center, while the Svay Rieng and Sihanoukville cases have been sent to their respective provincial hospitals, the ministry said.
It also announced four recoveries, one Cambodian worker who returned from Thailand and three people who arrived from Indonesia and China last month.
The country currently has 396 active cases. Schools in Phnom Penh and the provinces of Kandal and Preah Sihanouk have been closed temporarily, while nightclubs, theaters and fitness centers have also been shuttered.
The Phnom Penh governor said on Tuesday that 10,000 people in the capital were in lockdown and 78 locations closed in order to try to control the outbreak’s spread.
The February 20 cluster emerged after two Chinese women who later tested positive escaped quarantine at Phnom Penh’s Sokha Hotel. Many of the cases have been linked to nightclubs and casinos. Phnom Penh’s NagaWorld casino this week announced it would suspend its operations after some workers tested positive and thousands boycotted work.
Cambodia also received a shipment of more than 300,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine Tuesday night, to add to the Sinopharm vaccines that have been used in the country’s vaccination campaign since February 10.
Some 33,000 total doses have been given out so far, according to the Health Ministry, plus at least 50,000 soldiers and border police also given shots, according to the military.
The Health Ministry said Tuesday night that nearly 9,000 doses had been given out in one day, as the country aims to vaccinate 10 million people total.
Correction: The article originally said that the two Covid-19 patients found in Svay Rieng province were being treated in the Phnom Penh Quarantine Center. They are being treated in the Svay Rieng Provincial Referral Hospital.
