A banner shows safety precautions to prevent Covid-19 for students at a school in Phnom Penh. Hong Menea
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport identified 19 entities under its jurisdiction involved in the “November 3 event”, a reference to a visit by Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto who later tested positive for Covid-19 in the Thai capital Bangkok.
The list includes two provincial education departments, one karate club, six public schools and 10 private schools.
Ministry spokesman Ros Soveacha told The Post on November 11 the various units are implementing prescribed measure from the Ministry of Health.
“[We] have temporarily suspended classes for two weeks and resumed online studies in Phnom Penh, Kandal and other areas. The ministry has temporarily suspended operations at the Olympic Stadium until further notice,” he said.
Soveacha said some from the six public schools and 10 private schools had meals and attended meetings with affected people at the event.
He said the Karate Training Club had a coach acting as a bodyguard, while two provincial education departments had staff that engaged with others during the event.
Soveacha said all involved must strictly implement health and safety measures laid out by the health ministry.
The health ministry found that about 900 people were in direct or indirect contact with the Hungarian delegation.
As of Wednesday, 365 people were tested for Covid-19 and 315 tested negative. The results for the remaining 50 samples will be released on November 12.
A total of 1,481 samples were tested by the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge (IPC). Four were positive for Covid-19 and are receiving treatment at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital.
In a separate case, the ministry on November 11 found one person tested positive for Covid-19 – a 35-year-old US woman who travelled from the US via a connected flight in South Korea.
In a press release, the ministry said the woman arrived in Cambodia on November 4. She tested positive on a second test on the seventh day of her quarantine and is now receiving treatment at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital.
All of the 66 passengers on the flight with the woman tested negative for Covid-19.
The latest cases bring the total Covid-19 tally to 301 as of November 11, with 13 remaining hospitalised.
Health minister Mam Bunheng reiterated his calls for people to maintain social distancing.
He said Covid-19 is transmitted through contact with droplets from one person to another when an infected person speaks, laughs, sings, coughs or sneezes.
“People must keep a safe distance of 1.5m or more from one another, such as sitting, standing, waiting or talking. Avoid hugging, kissing and shaking hands,” he said.
On November 11, Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered the ministry to release two million face masks for Phnom Penh municipal governor Khuong Sreng to distribute to needy people in poor communities in the capital.
The Kandal Provincial Administration announced the same day that civil servants working in the provincial halls to get a free Covid-19 test at Chey Chumneas Referral Hospital in Takhmao town to help prevent and avoid the unpredictable risk of a deadly disease spreading in the community.
