Foreign arrivals from select countries and who are sponsored by a local company director or other official have had Covid-19 quarantine requirements relaxed, but “general” foreign and Cambodian arrivals no longer have the option to self-isolate at home for two weeks, according to the Health Ministry’s latest guidelines.
Two schools have been closed in Preah Sihanouk province due to Covid-19 precautions after a prime ministerial assistant visited three coastal provinces over the weekend despite being a suspected contact of a visiting Hungarian foreign minister who tested positive after leaving the country last week.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto shared some laughs with his counterparts in Austria and Slovenia last week about his recent visit to Cambodia, which has triggered renewed Covid-19 closures in the country, and the quarantine and testing of more than 1,000 people, including Prime Minister Hun Sen.
People should avoid social gatherings such as weddings, concerts, dinner parties and group exercise, and conduct meetings and workshops digitally where possible, the Health Ministry said Tuesday evening amid testing and contact tracing for Covid-19 cases related to a diplomat’s visit.
More than 1,100 people have now been tested for suspected direct or indirect contact with a visiting Hungarian foreign minister, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday, but it remained unclear how many received second tests on Monday as urged by the Health Ministry.
Some officials have breached quarantine and traveled outside Phnom Penh, leading the search for indirect Covid-19 contacts of a visiting Hungarian foreign minister to spread to at least seven provinces.
As the government closes schools for a second time amid renewed concerns of Covid-19 transmission, Phnom Penh students preparing for their ninth and 12th grade tests are concerned they have fallen behind during their online lessons.
Three more people have tested positive for Covid-19 as a result of a second round of testing today so far, the Health Ministry said — CPP lawmaker Sous Yara, Agriculture Ministry deputy secretary-general Sar Chetra and Hungary’s ambassador to Vietnam and Cambodia.
A full day of Covid-19 testing is being carried out on Monday for government officials from 13 different ministries and institutions after having varying contact with a visiting Hungarian foreign minister who later tested positive for the disease.
All schools in Phnom Penh and towns in Kandal province are being closed for two weeks, while KTVs, movie theaters and museums will be shuttered across the country till further notice, after a Cambodian man who worked directly with a visiting Hungarian foreign minister was found positive for Covid-19 on his second test on Saturday.
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