The Ministry of Health announced on March 11 that a Covid-19 patient whose case was linked to the February 20 community transmission had died.

In a press release, the ministry said this was the first Covid-19-related death ever confirmed in the country.

“On March 11, at 10:40am, a 50-year-old Cambodian man died from Covid-19 at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital,” it said.

The deceased patient resided in Chak Angre Krom commune of Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district. He was the driver for a Chinese business owner in Preah Sihanouk province whose case was also linked to the community outbreak.

The ministry said the deceased patient had tested positive for Covid-19 on February 27 after his samples were sent to the laboratory at the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge.

Health ministry spokeswoman Or Vandine could not be reached for comment, but in an interview on local television on March 11, she confirmed that a Cambodian had died from Covid-19.

She said the patient’s condition was critical from March 5 when he began to display visible signs of respiratory distress such as panting for breath. His doctors then moved him from the Chak Angre Health Centre to the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital.

“Doctors scanned his lungs and saw that both of his lungs had serious problems. Because of that, he was no longer able to get enough oxygen. The doctors tried to help him and treated him to the best of their ability, but they could not save him,” she said.

“Currently, some of the other Covid-19 patients being treated are also in serious condition and our medical professionals are working diligently to keep them alive. We will continue to monitor their conditions,” she said.

Vandine reiterated her call for the public not to underestimate the dangers of Covid-19, especially the new variants which she said are more contagious and may be more deadly. She asked that everyone remain vigilant and constantly follow the three protections and three don’ts guidelines.

Hun Many, president of the Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia, said the death clearly demonstrated the very real risk posed by Covid-19 to Cambodian lives.

“I am saddened by the regrettable news of the death of a Covid-19 patient on the morning of March 11. I would like to offer my condolences to his family,” he said in a Facebook post.

Many called on the public to exercise increased caution by following all preventive health measures introduced by the health ministry.

The death came just a day after Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered municipal and provincial authorities to prepare places for cremations and burials for those who die from Covid-19 according to their traditions.

Hun Sen also instructed them to prepare for a possible increase in demand for coffins for deceased Covid-19 patients. He noted that the preparation was not meant as an insult to people’s lives, but to ensure that all of the deceased would be honoured appropriately despite the obstacles caused by the pandemic.

“This is just about being prepared. I don’t understand how some people could interpret this preparation as an insult to the lives of citizens. But I would like to inform them that being prepared [for the possibility of death] is not an insult to the lives of any citizens,” he said.

He explained that according to Cambodian traditions, when parents reached old age, their children would have coffins made for them and have a stupa built before they passed away.

“Was this an insult to the lives of their parents?” he asked rhetorically.

Worried about the increase in the number of Covid-19 patients, the prime minister has ordered the Phnom Penh Municipal Hall and the army commander to prepare two more hospitals by taking over hotels as quarantine facilities that have 200 or more rooms.

Hun Sen also requested that army medics render assistance to civilian medical specialists to cope with the rapidly increasing number of Covid-19 patients.

“I have discussed this with Samdech Pichey Sena [Minister of National Defence] Tea Banh and requested that he deploy medics to help civilian medical professionals. The army has also prepared 30 groups of their medical specialists to help the civilian doctors,” he said.

Hun Sen added that when the two additional hospital facilities are ready, they will be managed by the army medics. They will be supplied by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and beyond staffing these two hospitals, additional medics will be deployed as needed to at-risk locations.

Separately, Phnom Penh governor Kuong Sreng told The Post on March 11 that he was considering several options to use as hospitals for care of Covid-19 patients.

“I don’t remember the names of all the hotels that we’ve chosen, but one is located in the Tra Louk Bek area in Tuol Kork district with 45 rooms. Another is in the Kbal Mean Che area in Tuol Kork district’s Phsar Depot II commune with 135 rooms, and the third is the Toyoko Inn Hotel in Chamkarmon district with 300 rooms,” he said.

“As of now we have not yet taken over any of [these hotels] because we are waiting for their owners to report back with complete information about them before we move forward,” Sreng said.

He also noted that working groups would first make use of the hospitals in Prey Sar commune of Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district. These locations were already medical facilities and are staffed with medical specialists for treating Covid-19 patients.

On March 11 alone, the health ministry recorded 39 new cases of Covid-19 linked to the February 20 community transmission, raising the total to 652 in just nearly three weeks.

The 39 include seven Chinese, three Vietnamese and one Korean, with the rest being Cambodian.

Phnom Penh recorded the most cases at 22, followed by Kandal province at nine, Prey Veng at six, and one each in Preah Sihanouk and Battambang.

As of March 11, Cambodia had recorded a total of 1,163 cases, with 565 receiving ongoing treatment and one death.