Sixty-five more cases of Covid-19 were announced Thursday morning, including 58 directly linked to the “community spread” of the February 20 cluster, and six other Chinese nationals who tested positive in Sihanoukville while looking to travel home.
The new cases announced by the Health Ministry include Cambodian, Vietnamese, Japanese, South Korean and Singaporean nationals as well as 47 Chinese nationals.
The ministry also said there was one recovery and one overseas arrival who tested positive, a 65-year-old Cambodian U.N. peacekeeper who arrived from South Africa via India on Sunday.
The cluster, which emerged over the weekend, has led to the closure of schools in Phnom Penh and Kandal province. The Education Ministry announced on Wednesday that schools in Preah Sihanouk province’s Sihanoukville and Stung Hav district would also be temporarily closed for at least two weeks.
Museums, theaters and nightclubs have also been shuttered, as well as more than 40 buildings in Phnom Penh identified as linked to the cluster.
On Wednesday, Health Ministry spokesperson Or Vandine said Phnom Penh hospitals were full with Covid-19 patients, and some would be sent to Kandal and Kampong Speu provinces while the ministry prepared more space.
The country has now recorded 698 cases of Covid-19 since January last year, 214 of them since Saturday. It currently has 221 active cases.
