PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) – Cambodia on Thursday confirmed its first death from COVID-19 since the pandemic began more than a year ago as it battled a new local outbreak that infected hundreds of people.
The 50-year-old man was confirmed infected last month while working as a driver for a Chinese company on the Sihanoukville coast and died at a Khmer-Soviet friendship hospital on Thursday morning, the health ministry said in a statement.
Cambodia has confirmed only 1,163 cases of coronavirus infection since the pandemic began, but is battling a new local outbreak that has infected several hundred people.
According to the Ministry of Health, the new outbreak was followed by a foreign resident who broke the quarantine in a hotel and went to a nightclub in early February. This caused a lot of infections and led the government on February 20 to announce the two-week closure of all public schools, cinemas, bars and entertainment areas in Phnom Penh.
Since then, the government has extended closures for another two weeks for schools, gyms, concert halls, museums and other entertainment venues in Phnom Penh, nearby Kandal province and the coastal province of Sihanoukville.
On Thursday, the Ministry of Health said that 39 cases were reported following the local transmission.
As the outbreak grows, a defunct luxury hotel in the capital has been turned into a 500-room coronavirus hospital, and authorities are enforcing a new law imposing criminal penalties for violating health rules.
The country began its vaccination campaign in February with 600,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine produced in China. It also received 324,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine this month, which were donated and produced in India.