A 33-year-old Cambodian woman was confirmed to have Covid-19 while in self-quarantine in Battambang two weeks after arriving from the U.S., and was in contact with at least seven people before testing positive, the Health Ministry announced Friday morning.
There were also 40 total passengers on her flight from the U.S. to Phnom Penh via Taiwan on September 16, the ministry said. It has not yet announced test results for the contacts.
The woman traveled from Phnom Penh to Battambang three days after arriving back in the country following a negative test for Covid-19. But on the 13th day of self-quarantine on September 30, she was retested and on the following day the Pasteur Institute confirmed that she had Covid-19. She was taken to the Battambang Provincial Referral Hospital for treatment, the ministry said.
Two friends drove her from Phnom Penh to Battambang, and the woman has been in contact with five family members, it said.
“A working group will continue to look for those who have had direct and indirect contact,” it said. “The ministry will continue to inform the public of the results of the investigation.”
Meanwhile, ministry spokesperson Or Vandine told VOD on Thursday evening that contact tracing for a Hungarian man who tested positive for Covid-19 a week ago — also on his 13th day of self-quarantine — had turned up 36 direct and indirect contacts in Siem Reap.
In Phnom Penh, authorities were also conducting tracing for other passengers on his flight, a small number of whom had already left the country, as well as the taxi driver that drove him to Siem Reap on September 16, Vandine said.
As of Wednesday, all tests were negative, with no sign of transmission, she said. “No one has been infected with Covid-19,” Vandine said.
Cambodia has been mostly spared by the coronavirus pandemic so far, with no official deaths and 278 total confirmed cases, only three of which are active.
Worldwide, more than 1 million people have died this year from 33.8 million confirmed cases of the disease, according to the World Health Organization.
