Cambodia's Ministry of Health announced in a press statement on Tuesday that 12 more local people were tested positive for the COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the kingdom to 24.
The new patients included 11 Cambodians, who had returned to Cambodia after attending a mass Islamic religious ceremony in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and a Cambodian man who just returned to the country from Thailand, the statement said.
It added that among the new confirmed cases are two in Banteay Meanchey province, two in Phnom Penh, two in Kampong Chhnang province, four in Battambang province, one in Kampot province, and one in Tboung Khmum province.
The patients had been placed in isolation rooms in respective provincial referral hospitals for treatment, and those in Phnom Penh had been quarantined for treatment at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital.
According to the statement, a total of 79 Cambodians took part in the Islamic religious ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 29 and Cambodian health authorities are searching for the rest of them.
FACILITIES ESTABLISHED
Cambodian Minister of Health Mam Bunheng said in statement on Tuesday that the government decided to use the building of the bankrupt Great Duke hotel in Phnom Penh as the hospital for COVID-19 patients.
Also, the Ministry of Health has set up a facility with a 100-intensive care beds at the former location of the Chak Angre Health Center in Meanchey district in southern part of Phnom Penh to prepare for a spike in COVID-19 cases, he said.
Besides the two new facilities, he said the ministry has already prepared wards for caring and treating COVID-19 patients at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital, the National Pediatric Hospital, the Kantha Bopha Children's Hospital in Phnom Penh, the Jayavarman VII Children's Hospital in Siem Reap province, and the provincial referral hospitals in all 24 provinces.
"The Ministry of Health has already prepared medical equipment and supplies, resources, and means to eventually respond to the pandemic of this virus in Cambodia," Bunheng said.
He said the ministry is committed to doing its best to fight the pandemic and to take care of people's health with high responsibilities.
He also called on people to remain calm and to be confident in the measures taken by the government to curb the virus.
TOUGH MEASURES
To prevent the spread of the virus, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on Sunday issued a directive, advising the Cambodian people not to travel to Europe, the United States, and Iran if unnecessary.
Civil servants at all ministries and state institutions are not allowed to attend all types of meetings in Europe, the United States and Iran, he said.
"For civil servants and Cambodian people who have just returned home from countries in Europe, the United States and Iran, they must self-isolate for 14 days from the day of their arrivals to Cambodia," Hun Sen said.
Also, the kingdom has banned foreigners from Italy, Germany, Spain, France and the United States from entering the country for 30 days, taking effect from Tuesday, and from Iran, starting from Wednesday.
On Monday, the ministry of education allowed all public and private school students across the country to take an early vacation, and the ministry provided online teaching to them through its website and social media platforms.
