Cambodia shuts schools because of Hungarian Foreign Minister

Cambodia takes precautionary measures: schools in the capital and surrounding areas will be shut down for two weeks as Hungarian Minister for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Péter Szijjártó tested positive for Covid-19 following his visit to Cambodia last week.

Cambodia’s schools just finally reopened with limited class sizes and hours last Monday, after being closed since March due to the coronavirus situation but according to the statement the Cambodian Education Ministry released on Sunday, as a precautionary measure, public and private schools in Phnom Penh, the capital and the surrounding province of Kandal will have to close again for two weeks, AP reports. Students will continue with online learning, just like they did earlier.

According to the Cambodian Education ministry’s statement, the shutdown is necessary because they do not have enough information on the parents of those students who had direct or indirect contact with Szijjártó during his visit last week.

Szijjártó tested positive on Tuesday upon his arrival to Thailand, and after he visited Cambodia. Before returning to Hungary on Wednesday, he was placed in quarantine, and all his further meetings in Bangkok were cancelled.

Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Sen announces on Saturday that one of Szijjártó’s Cambodian bodyguards has tested positive for Covid-19. He said, among some 900 people who were part of Szijjártó’s visit, the one bodyguard was the only one to test positive.

Hun Sen and four Cambodian cabinet ministers are also in quarantine now after they met Szijjártó on the same day he tested positive. As Hun Sen said, he has tested negative and will strictly follow his country’s coronavirus guidelines and quarantine for fourteen days.

Meanwhile, the Hungarian Foreign Minister has been in quarantine for seven days now, but he has not stopped working. Szijjártó keeps the public informed through his social media; in today’s’ Facebook video diary he mentioned, he is still experiencing symptoms: “I currently feel like I have proper flu but I hope it won’t get any more serious than this”.

Source: AP, Facebook