After a visit by Hungary’s foreign minister, his shirking of health protocols and subsequent renewed Covid-19 closures and quarantines, the initial public fury has had time to settle. Now, we need to focus on testing, transparency and taking precautions seriously, writes Matt Surrusco.
An assistant to Prime Minister Hun Sen told a local media outlet that he didn’t know he was supposed to be in quarantine as he visited coastal areas — causing dozens to go into quarantine — despite being an indirect contact to a visiting diplomat who tested positive for Covid-19 after leaving the country.
Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn on Thursday defended his Hungarian counterpart — noting Hungary’s past political support — amid an online backlash against the foreign diplomat after his visit to Cambodia last week spurred renewed Covid-19 closures and some 1,700 people being tested and quarantined.
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.
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.
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.
A Cambodian bodyguard who worked directly with a visiting Hungarian foreign minister last week tested positive for Covid-19 on his second test on Saturday, the Health Ministry announced.
Top Cambodian officials are going into quarantine after Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, who visited the country on Tuesday and signed three agreements in front of Prime Minister Hun Sen, tested positive for Covid-19 after arriving in Thailand.
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