Two Chinese nationals escaped quarantine at their hotel in Phnom Penh on Wednesday while waiting for their first Covid-19 test results.

Their escape marks the fourth time that people have escaped quarantine facilities in the Kingdom.

Ministry of Health spokesperson Or Vandine said on Wednesday that the two visitors arrived in Cambodia from China on Tuesday and were assigned to be quarantined at a hotel in the capital.

Before they escaped, they allegedly argued with each other.

“The authorities are searching for them. Their test results are negative for Covid-19, but they still require further quarantine,” she said.

In July, a Cambodian-American woman escaped from her quarantine centre in Phnom Penh and fled to Kampong Cham province.

In August, two Cambodian workers from Malaysia fled their quarantine centre to return to their homes. Two Vietnamese nationals, a mother and child, also escaped quarantine in Prey Veng province and fled to Kampong Chhnang province before their first test results were returned.

Following the escapes, the health ministry issued a letter of recommendation at the end of August advising all provincial governors to deploy police forces to monitor activities outside Level 1 and 2 quarantine centres and hotels to maintain security and order.

The ministry also requested officials to take action against escapees as required by law by imposing fines ranging from 200,000 ($48.77) to one million riel.

Cambodia has been screening and testing all passengers entering from abroad since May 20 to prevent the transmission of Covid-19 as most of the 274 cases reported in the Kingdom are imported.

The Ministry of Health’s Communicable Disease Control Department (CDC) said 110,438 people have been tested for Covid-19 in the Kingdom since the first case was reported on January 27.

No new cases were reported on Thursday and there is only one Covid-19 patient yet to recover.