The Health Ministry on Monday reported 20 new cases of Covid-19, all in the capital, and a record 83 recoveries as two new quarantine deaths emerged in the provinces.
The ministry said that 18 of Monday’s new cases were found among Phnom Penh residents connected to the February 20 cluster, as well as one new arrival from Singapore and another from Thailand. All but one of the new cases were found among Cambodian citizens.
The 83 recoveries includes 66 people in Phnom Penh and six people in Preah Sihanouk province who were connected to the February 20 cluster, as well as six U.N. peacekeepers in Kampong Speu and five Chinese nationals who were not part of the community outbreak.
Monday’s cases followed 39 new cases on Saturday and 41 on Sunday.
Phnom Penh Municipality on Sunday announced that all Covid-19 patients discharged in the capital would be required to quarantine at home for an additional 14 days and conduct frequent health checks, according to government-aligned Fresh News.
The third known Covid-19 patient to die in Cambodia, a 69-year-old Cambodian man, died of a heart attack, not the virus, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.
The man died Sunday at about 9:40 a.m. at the Prey Veng Referral Hospital and had no signs of cough, fatigue or fever, but did have high blood pressure, the ministry said in a statement.
At 6 a.m., the man exercised and then went back to sleep. Other patients learned of his death when they called him for breakfast but he did not answer, the ministry said.
The deceased lived in Prey Veng’s Peam Ro district, according to earlier ministry reports. He tested positive on March 12 and his case was linked to the “February 20” community cluster, which has seen a spike in cases, school and business closures, and travel restrictions.
Another man who was quarantined in a Sihanoukville casino but initially tested negative for Covid-19 died in hospital on Sunday, the province said.
Preah Sihanouk provincial administration stated Sunday that the Chinese man, 27, died that afternoon after being taken to the Preah Sihanouk Provincial Referral Hospital. The man had arrived in Cambodia on December 30 and was placed in quarantine in a casino in Sihanoukville’s Buon commune on February 26.
According to the provincial administration, he reported feeling weak on Saturday night at 8:42 p.m. and was rushed to the hospital that evening. His condition deteriorated, the statement said, so he was prepared for evacuation to Phnom Penh, but he died at 1:43 p.m. Doctors said he had chronic pancreatitis, pneumonia and high blood pressure in a preliminary evaluation.
“The body is currently kept at the Sihanoukville Provincial Referral Hospital and samples were taken for analysis to Cambodia Pasteur for continuing procedures,” it said.
Two other known Covid-19 patients have died this month, including a Chinese man who reportedly did not die due to the virus on March 4, and Cambodia’s first reported Covid-19 death, a Cambodian man who worked as a driver to a Chinese businessman, on Thursday.
