2 Cambodians returning from US, France test positive for Omicron

Phnom Penh, Dec 19 Two Cambodian nationals returning from the US and France have tested positive for the Omicron Covid-19 variant, bringing the total number of such cases in the southeast Asian nation to four, the Ministry of Health (MoH) said in a statement on Sunday.

The two patients are a 47-year-old woman arriving in the kingdom on Thursday from the US, with a connecting flight in South Korea, and a 33-year-old woman taking a flight from France passing through Singapore before arriving in Cambodia on Friday, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Upon landing at the Phnom Penh International Airport, the two women were given a rapid test which indicated that they were positive for Covid-19, and their samples were then sent to the Pasteur Institute in Cambodia for further testing," the Ministry statement said.

"The results released by the Pasteur Institute in Cambodia on December 18 showed that the two women were positive for the Omicron Covid-19 variant."

The patients are currently being treated at a Covid-19 treatment facility in Phnom Penh.

The country reported the first case of the Omicron variant on December 14 pregnant Cambodian woman returning from Ghana - and the second case on December 17 on an Iranian male tourist travelling to the kingdom from Kenya.

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