Cambodia's new positive cases include former patient in Malaysia, says Dr Noor Hisham

PUTRAJAYA: One of Cambodia’s newest Covid-19 positive cases is a former Covid-19 patient in Malaysia who had been discharged, says the Health Ministry.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that the individual, a Cambodian, was Malaysia’s “patient 1,051” who had been admitted for Covid-19 in the past and discharged.

“One of the individuals is an old case in Malaysia - case 1,051. Although the individual tested positive (in Cambodia), it could be due to virus shedding, so it is not much of a concern.

“The patient had been discharged but the virus could still be detected through a RT-PCR (reverse transmission-polymerase chain reaction) test. However, the virus is weak and not active.

“We will inform the Cambodian authorities that this is not a new case, but an old one that has been discharged, ” said Dr Noor Hisham at the ministry’s Covid-19 press conference here on Monday (June 29).

Dr Noor Hisham was asked to comment on two new imported Covid-19 cases which were reported by Cambodia’s Health Ministry on Sunday (June 28).

The two cases were two Cambodian males, aged 15 and 23, who arrived in Cambodia from Malaysia on a direct flight on Friday (June 26).

On the second patient, Dr Noor Hisham said the individual is a student in a tahfiz school in Malaysia.

“We have begun active case detection to see which tahfiz school the patient went to and we will trace the individual’s close contacts.

“The ministry will also work with the airlines to identify those who were seated two rows in front and two rows behind the patients. We will screen and test them, ” said Dr Noor Hisham.

On another matter, Dr Noor Hisham said Malaysia’s sole import case on Monday (June 29) is a Malaysian with recent travel history to Fiji and New Zealand.

“The man is a 28-year-old who had travelled to Fiji but was denied entry by the country. So he was put into quarantine.

“He then travelled to New Zealand, was also denied entry, and then also put into quarantine.

“He flew back to Malaysia with a transit stop at Singapore’s airport. He tested positive for Covid-19 and we have already isolated him, ” said Dr Noor Hisham.

There were only three new cases on Monday, of which the two others were local transmissions.