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.
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.
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.
UPDATED 2 p.m. — Caution and skepticism persist despite health authorities reporting success in keeping Covid-19 numbers down, as government officials have ignored safety precautions, a foreign delegation was allowed to skip quarantine, and the country’s testing regime remains opaque.
Taking precautionary measures, some staff at news outlets and government bodies have gone into two-week quarantine following the visit of a Hungarian foreign minister who later tested positive for Covid-19.
A government minister said on Thursday that the Hungarian delegation that visited this week — and from which a member later tested positive for Covid-19 — along with the Foreign Affairs Ministry had asked for no mandatory masks, alcohol spraying or temperature checks during a signing ceremony.
Health authorities said on Thursday that 628 people had been tested for Covid-19 after coming in contact with a visiting Hungarian official who tested positive for the virus after leaving the country this week.
On the second stop of his European tour, Prime Minister Hun Sen again asked his hosts for support in retaining trade preferences as the E.U. reviews its “Everything But Arms” deal with Cambodia over alleged violations of political and human rights.
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