Two more Covid-19 patients have died while undergoing treatment in Phnom Penh, bringing the total fatalities from the disease to 18, the Ministry of Health confirmed late on April 2.

One of the deceased – a 61-year-old Cambodian woman residing in Niroth commune of the capital's Chbar Ampov district – was first admitted to Khema International Hospital on March 30.

She tested positive for Covid-19 the next day and was transferred to the Luong Mer Hospital – formerly a private hospital which the government has recently purchased and converted into another state-run Covid-19 treatment facility.

The 61-year-old suffered from acute respiratory distress syndrome and pneumonia and died on April 1 despite having been put on a ventilator.

The other deceased patient – a 29-year-old Cambodian man living in Wat Phnom commune of the capital's Daun Penh district – was admitted to the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital on the morning of April 1 for severe fatigue.

He was first rushed to the hospital's ICU and had his samples taken for Covid-19 testing, but was then put on a ventilator when his condition worsened.

The ministry said the 29-year-old, whose Covid-19 test result came back positive, suffered from acute respiratory distress syndrome and pneumonia and died later that day.

On April 2, the ministry issued a separate press release clarifying that the death of another Covid-19 positive woman on April 1 was due to cardiac arrest and not from the disease.

The woman, a 56-year-old resident of Sras Chak commune in Phnom Penh's Daun Penh district, died at her home while in self-quarantine. The ministry noted that the woman had been on medication for high blood pressure.