Briton tests positive for coronavirus on cruise boat quarantined in Cambodia

Officials arrive to take samples from passengers on the cruise boat docked along the Mekong River bank in Kampong Cham Credit: AP/Heng Sinith

Scores of passengers and crew on a cruise boat are being held under quarantine in eastern Cambodia after a British passenger tested positive for the coronavirus.

The vessel belonging to Viking River Cruises is under police guard as it remains moored on the Mekong River outside the town of Kampong Cham.

Cambodian health minister Mam Bunheng visited the Kampong Cham provincial hospital, where the 65-year-old British woman is being held for observation and treatment.

The woman is Cambodia’s third confirmed case.

Four other passengers from the UK have tested negative for Covid-19 Credit: AP Photo/Heng Sinith

The remaining 63 passengers and crew on board will be tested and quarantined for 14 days.

Four other passengers from the UK have already been tested with negative results.

The luxury cruise originated in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and visited the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, before arriving at Kampong Cham.

As of Tuesday evening, six people in the UK had died of Covid-19 and 382 had tested positive for the respiratory disease.

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