Quarantine a WHO requirement
A HEALTH official said measures taken to contain passengers of the Viking Cruise Journey cruise ship in quarantine at a hotel in Kampong Cham province were based on recommendations by the World Health Organisation ( WHO), and are not designed to detain them.
Kampong Cham Health Department head Kim Sour Phirun who was commenting on claims by a couple that they have been detained, not quarantined in the hotel, said it was “simply untrue”.
As of Monday, he said 58 passengers and crew on board the ship had been isolated in quarantine at the hotel.
“We have allowed them to stay at a hotel. We will need to keep each of them in quarantine to monitor their symptoms. They are being fed three times a day with drinks included. “The passengers are in good health but they still need to stay out the duration of their quarantine.
“We have officials on standby 24 hours a day to monitoring their health in case something changes. But until now, all 58 passengers are in good health. Nothing has changed,” he said.
The American couple – Ryan Knapp and Theresa GordonKnapp – told USA Today on Monday that they felt like they were being detained, with Ryan adding: “We have not been kept in quarantine. We have been detained.”
Ryan claimed the building they have been kept in looked like an abandoned hotel.
In response, Sour Phirun said: “The hotel rooms are as good as five-star hotels. The provincial governor organised the cleaning of the rooms and ensured there are enough beds per room before they moved in.
“We accept requests should the guests require anything. We are complying with their requests. We are trying to make their stay as comfortable as possible.”
He said according to standards set by WHO, those who had been kept in quarantine were not allowed outside for 14 days. Therefore they have been advised against allowing the tourists to roam freely outside to halt any potential spread of the virus.
“It is not detention. We have to monitor their health for 14 days. If at the end of the 14 days, they show no symptoms and test negative for Covid-19, they are free to leave.
“We have not detained them. They are in air-conditioned rooms with beds, mattresses, clean bathrooms and sufficient food. Their interpretation of the conditions they are being kept in is not factual,” he stressed.
Ministry of Health spokesperson Or Vandine didn’t respond to the comments by the couple, saying that Prime Minister Hun Sen was very clear about the Viking Cruise Journey passengers’ circumstances.
On Saturday, the prime minister criticised a foreign diplomat who demanded the Kampong Cham provincial governor to take his citizens to stay at a fivestar hotel in Phnom Penh.
However, Hun Sen responded, saying that the MS Westerdam cruise ship’s circumstances were different from that of the Viking Cruise Journey.
The MS Westerdam, he said, docked earlier and no one on board tested positive for the virus. However, he said, three people had tested positive for Covid-19 abroad the Viking Cruise Journey, and therefore, quarantine and isolation in the locality was a priority.
Communicable Disease Control Department (CDCD) director Ly Sovann said in a Facebook post that the tests for Covid-19 were conducted free of charge. He said all those who were suspected to carry the virus are required to be hospitalised.
“They have been tested for Covid-19 for free. It is free of charge for both nationals and foreigners. The monitoring they are receiving and any treatment will be free of charge also,” he said.
In contrast, VN Express on Saturday quoted Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc as saying that foreigners in Vietnam would need to pay for treatment if they are infected with the coronavirus.
On Monday, AFP reported that Beijing had ordered foreigners who arrive in China from Monday onwards to enter a 14-day quarantine. Foreigners would be required to pay all accommodation fees at the building, it added.