Cambodia bans state-organized events in capital over virus

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia on Wednesday banned all state-organized events in the capital and a neighboring province for two weeks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus after a number of people connected to a Hungarian official's visit tested positive.

The Interior Ministry did not elaborate on the ban on government events and meetings. It had already closed schools, nightclubs, beer halls and cinemas in Phnom Penh and neighboring Kandal province.

The decision came after the government struggled to trace people that came into contact with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, who made a short visit to Cambodia on Nov. 3 before testing positive on arrival later that same day in neighboring Thailand. All his meetings in Thailand were cancelled and he flew home on Nov. 4.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has so far ruled out declaring a state of emergency, even as he and a number of his Cabinet ministers were forced into quarantine. Two Hungarian ambassadors, to Thailand and to Cambodia, are among people who have tested positive since Szijjarto's visit.

Cambodia has tested more than 1,000 people who had connections to the visit, and four were confirmed to have contracted the virus: the Hungarian ambassador, a Cambodian bodyguard for the visiting minister, a ruling party lawmaker and a senior Agriculture Ministry official.

Thai authorities said Tuesday a Hungarian diplomat in Bangkok tested positive for the virus, the only local case in Thailand so far linked to Szijjarto.

The 53-year-old Hungarian diplomat in Bangkok was sent to an infectious disease facility for treatment and isolation.

The diplomat sat in the same car and had a quick dinner with Szijjarto on the day he arrived in Bangkok, said Sopon Iamsirithaworn, director of Thailand's Division...