Although the Kingdom’s Covid-19 patients have kept recovering fairly quickly and there still has not been a single death from the illness – despite it having already killed over two million people worldwide – authorities continue to discover new cases in arrivals from abroad and urge the public to be cautious and maintain all safety measures.

To that end, the Ministry of Health has requested the cooperation of all head pharmacists at pharmacies and sub-pharmacies to assist in the containment of the spread of Covid-19.

Health ministry spokeswoman Or Vandine said that so far, pharmacists had followed the ministry’s instructions on the preventing the spread of Covid-19, but the ministry was now reminding them to further strengthen their implementation of these measures in order to contain any potential large-scale community transmission.

“Pharmacies and sub-pharmacies must sell medicine according to a doctor’s prescription, and pharmacists are not allowed to check for diseases at the pharmacies. If a medicine buyer is suspected of having Covid-19, they should not just sell medicine to them – they must instruct them to isolate themselves from their families and then inform health officials of it urgently,” she said.

Vandine has called on all people, including pharmacists, to always adhere to sanitation measures such as washing hands with soap or alcohol frequently and wearing masks, as well as maintaining a distance of at least 1.5m from others.

The ministry said that a 29-year-old Indonesian airline passenger who was staying at a hotel in Phnom Penh pending his test results had tested positive for Covid-19 on January 30.

The man had arrived in Cambodia from the Philippines via South Korea on January 29. He is currently being treated at the National Centre for Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control in Phnom Penh.

The 119 other passengers onboard the same flight have tested negative, but 70 are now being kept in quarantine for 14 days at three separate hotels while the other 49 are staying at the quarantine centre in Phnom Penh.

A total of 86 returning Cambodian migrant workers have tested positive for Covid-19. Of that number, 72 have recovered and 14 others remained hospitalised. Two are being treated at the Pailin provincial referral hospital and 12 are being treated in Banteay Meanchey province.

Separately, the Cambodian embassy in Vietnam has requested that Cambodians who are studying or staying there carry out preventive safety measures. These include wearing masks, washing hands, maintaining personal hygiene and continuing to follow the ministry’s instructions consistently to prevent possible transmission.

The notice came after Vietnamese authorities found 84 cases of community transmission of Covid-19 in the provinces of Hai Duong and Quang Ninh. Vietnam’s prime minister has ordered the closure of Chi Linh City and Van Dan Airport for 21 days in response to the outbreak.

As of January 31, Cambodia had recorded a total of 465 Covid-19 cases, with 22 still being treated at hospitals.