Cambodian health minister says traditional Chinese medicine "effective" for treating mild Covid-19 symptoms

People buy vegetables in front of a Covid-19 information banner in Phnom Penh on May 27, 2021. - AFP

PHNOM PENH, May 28 (Xinhua): Cambodia's Health Minister Mam Bunheng said that traditional Chinese medicine Lianhua Qingwen Capsules is "effective" to treat Covid-19 patients with mild symptoms.

Lianhua Qingwen Capsules, a patented traditional Chinese medicine widely used in China to treat symptoms of Covid-19 patients, was licensed by Cambodia's health ministry for use in April.

"The traditional Chinese medicine has been used to treat patients with mild symptoms such as a runny nose, cough and fever, and it is effective," Bunheng told reporters during a visit to a ward for serious Covid-19 patients at the Preah Ang Duong Hospital in Phnom Penh earlier this week.

"Many patients with mild symptoms at the Covid-19 treatment centers have recovered due to this medicine and very few of them have developed to severe illness," he added.

Cambodia on Friday night (May 28)logged 599 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the national case tally to 28,237, the health ministry said in a statement.

The kingdom saw another 502 patients recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 20,900, the ministry said, adding that the overall death toll rose to 196 after two new fatalities were recorded.

The South-East Asian nation began an anti-Covid-19 inoculation drive on Feb 10.

The health ministry's secretary of state and spokeswoman Or Vandine said as of Thursday, more than 2.4 million out of the 10-million target population have been vaccinated. - Xinhua