The Stung Treng provincial authorities on May 1 detected the first Covid-19 case in a 24-year-old woman who travelled from Preah Sihanouk province, known as Cambodia's second main hotspot after Phnom Penh.

"She has a family in O'russey Kandal village in Siem Bok district's Orussey Kandal commune,” said provincial administration spokesman Man Kong.

He said the woman worked in Preah Sihanouk province and entered Stung Treng on April 27 after the government-imposed inter-provincial travel ban was lifted. Upon arrival, the woman was immediately placed in a quarantine centre and her sample was taken for Covid-19 testing, which came back positive.

“There are many people under quarantine here. If we haven’t taken action early, there might have been many cases already. We strictly enforced inter-provincial travel ban and the closure of resorts. We deployed forces at all provincial border checkpoints and implement necessary preventive measures,” Kong said.

The provincial Department of Health confirmed this first positive case, saying the woman had been transferred to a quarantine centre for treatment. It called on people who have questions or suspicion of Covid-19 to contact emergency response teams immediately.

As of today, only Ratanakkiri province – which borders Stung Treng – out of the Kingdom’s 25 capital and provinces is spared of Covid-19.