The American passenger aboard MS Westerdam who tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) had yet to undergo a test for the acute respiratory disease caused by the virus during her stay in Cambodia, said the Health Ministry of Cambodia on February 17.

(Photo: AFP/VNA)

In a statement, the Cambodian Health Ministry affirmed that medical checks had been conducted for every passenger aboard the cruise ship, which was allowed to dock at the country’s southern port of Sihanoukville on February 13.

Twenty passengers who were suspected of being infected had undergone tests for COVID-19. However, the 83-year-old US woman was not among them, it said.

MS Westerdam, run by the US-based Holland America Line with 1,455 passengers and 802 crew members on board, was forced to sail the seas for several days after being refused entry by a number of countries over fears that the ship may be carrying passengers infected with the virus.

The Cambodian Health Ministry added that it will continue to keep a close watch on the coronavirus situation after the US passenger tested positive for the virus at Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

The US woman was among 1,455 passengers on the cruise ship, which earlier docked at a port in Hong Kong. She, and her husband, 85, were among 145 passengers on the ship who flew to Malaysia on February 14.

Also on February 17, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on his Facebook page that about 500 passengers who had shown no symptoms of COVID-19 were being accommodated at a hotel in Phnom Penh.

(Source: VNA)