Holland America Cruise Ship to Dock at Sihanoukville

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Re: Holland America Cruise Ship to Dock at Sihanoukville

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

Interesting look at Cambodia's political reaction to the coronavirus:
HE’s Political Gamble: The Coronavirus Epidemic
HE is playing a high-stakes political game by downplaying fear of the coronavirus. Will his strategy pay off?
By Chansambath Bong
February 20, 2020
While the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has caused troubles for many world leaders, Cambodian Prime Minister HE has used the epidemic as a political gambit to bolster his domestic and international image.

Domestically speaking, HE has played a high-stakes game by downplaying fear of the coronavirus to make the case to Cambodians that there is in an experienced sheriff in town and they have nothing to worry about with him at the helm. Unlike Vietnam, Singapore, and scores of other countries who have banned flights to and from China, HE has refused to do so, citing that the Kingdom of Cambodia stands in solidarity with China in desperate times. He also refused to evacuate 23 Cambodian students trapped in China’s Wuhan city, the epicenter of COVID-19, despite some criticisms.

After it was confirmed in late January that a 60-year-old Chinese man who flew in from Wuhan and landed in Sihanoukville province had contracted the virus, the premier strongly appealed to the Cambodian public for calm. HE promised that his government would invest in whatever resources it takes to ensure proper quarantine and successful treatment of that patient. He has repeatedly argued that people should be more scared of false reports about the virus than the virus itself.

To push his case further, HE spoke to journalists in a televised-speech-turned-press-conference on January 29, in which he blasted locFull article: al reporters for blowing the outbreak out of proportion with their coverage. He went so far as to threaten to expel those wearing masks from venue, scolding that “the prime minister doesn’t wear a mask, so why do you?” When asked for a response to a testy question positing that some have no confidence in Cambodia’s healthcare system, HE immediately became irritated and pushed back, asking, “Have any of those skeptics contracted the virus yet? If not, how do they know that our government is incapable?” So far, HE’s domestic handling of COVID-19 has proven its point because no Cambodian national has been infected with the virus yet, though some say there may be more cases than the government is willing to admit. Moreover, the single Chinese patient was recently discharged from Sihanoukville Referral Hospital in healthy condition.
Full article: https://thediplomat.com/2020/02/hun-sen ... -epidemic/
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Re: Holland America Cruise Ship to Dock at Sihanoukville

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Hotel getaway: Oregon comedian quarantined amid cruise ship virus sneaks flight to Seattle

by KOMO News StaffTuesday, February 18th 2020
SEA-TAC AIRPORT, Wash. (KOMO) -- An Oregon comedian who had been stranded on a Holland America cruise ship in Cambodia due to COVID-19 virus concerns managed to get a flight back home by breaking quarantine in a hotel where ship's passengers were being held pending test results.

Frank King arrived at Sea-Tac Airport Monday afternoon on his way home to Eugene. He was a performer on the M/S Westerdam when their two-week cruise turned into quite the saga after a former passenger tested positive for the virus.

The ship left Hong Kong on Feb. 1 and was supposed to visit Shanghai but couldn’t because coronavirus gripped China. The ship was then denied entry in Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Guam and Thailand before finally being allowed to dock in Cambodia.

An 83-year-old woman who disembarked the ship tested positive for coronavirus in Malaysia, bringing the whole disembarking process to a halt. Some passengers had been put up in a five-star hotel in Phnom Penh awaiting travel home when the news of the positive test hit, meaning those on board and those at the hotel would have to all be tested and await results before being allowed to leave.

But King, who says he had an important speaking engagement back in the U.S. decided he couldn't wait.

Frank King speaks to KOMO News at Sea-Tac Airport

"There was no official 'you can't leave' (at the hotel) but if you tried to go out the front door with your luggage, security would stop you," King said. "But if you went out with your backpack and you were sightseeing, not a problem."

He said they were all tested for the virus on Sunday.

"How long is it going to take to get all those results back? Because I've got an engagement on the 20th of February," he told KOMO News, adding he speaks on suicide prevention and wouldn't get paid if he didn't make it.

"So I thought, you know, I'm outta here," he said.

King said he first walked around the entire hotel scoping out security and noted lesser security was along the back gate.

"So out I go the back gate with my luggage," he said.

Oregon comedian quarantined amid cruise ship virus sneaks flight to Seattle

King says he was stopped by someone and repeatedly told he was not to leave, but he refused to comply unless he was going to be arrested and instead got into a waiting three-wheeled tuk-tuk, even carrying his luggage on his shoulders, to get to the airport.

He says he chose to fly back on his own on a more full-service airline, even purchasing a full-price, upgraded ticket as not to raise suspicion that he was trying to quickly leave the country at the last minute as cheaply as possible.

King said he sailed through the airports on his three connecting flights, only being asked if he had been to China, and had a rental car reserved in Seattle to get home to Eugene if he couldn't fly from here.

King said somebody asked him if it was "kind of selfish to self deport?" He said while the results of his virus test weren't back, he's confident he's OK since he has not shown any symptoms, nor fever, and says he had been essentially in quarantine for 14 days.

====

Update: Holland America announced Wednesday that all other passengers' test results for COVID-19 came back negative and they are all free to travel home. The cruise line is working with local authorities to arrange travel for passengers.
https://komonews.com/news/local/man-str ... ac-airport
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Re: Holland America Cruise Ship to Dock at Sihanoukville

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pczz wrote:Really? i doubt there are vene enough testing facilities to test everyone with flu sysmptoms in the middle of the flu season. One good reason for not testing everyone9or even anyone) is it makes your country look symptom free which is good for tourism. Iwonder what old Trumpoy is going to dowhen he finds 6 poor people with no medical cover. Rel dilema. treat them for free - haha, shoot them hm maybe, semd them to mexico - quite likely. Universal healthcare is required to tackle thing like this and not everywhere has got it. part of the problem is if you dont have UHC then its too expensive to go see the doctor to test you anyway
Thanks for pointing out that President Trump is the source of the worldwide coronavirus epidemic and that free healthcare for everyone in the world is the solution that will cure the world of coronavirus. Otherwise, no one would every believe that you hated Trump and wanted worldwide universal healthcare otherwise.

Centers of Disease Control will isolate and test anyone they suspect of having the coronavirus. Whole plane loads of people from China are currently in isolation at military bases. I don’t think the CDC checks for insurance status before isolating and sure they don’t ask for insurance pre-authorization before hospitalizing and treating.

I also think that the CDC doesn’t ask for employer permission before putting them into isolation either.
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Re: Holland America Cruise Ship to Dock at Sihanoukville

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Re: Holland America Cruise Ship to Dock at Sihanoukville

Post by Phnom Poon »

ie the one-eyed king will ensure everyone else in the land is blind

can pasteur results be trusted?

it looks like cambodia will never get covid19
offiicially

.

monstra mihi bona!
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Re: Holland America Cruise Ship to Dock at Sihanoukville

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It would be interesting to know how long this hospital has been operating "without a permit".
Preah Sihanouk Chinese hospital suspended
Pech Sotheary / Khmer Times Share:

The Preah Sihanouk provincial joint working group has temporarily suspended the business activities of Chinese hospital Thay Khang located in Sihanoukville’s Buon commune on the grounds of operating without a licence and releasing inaccurate information related to COVID-19 inciting fear and social unrest.

Provincial deputy governor Chhin Seng Nguon said yesterday the suspension took effect on Tuesday afternoon as it was caught operating without a Health Ministry licence.

He added on February 9, Chinese national Su YongYun, who had just returned from China and was afraid of the possibility of being infected, went to that hospital for a health check.

Despite having no fever, the hospital results showed that he had a respiratory disease and was suspected of having COVID-19.

The results were sent to the Chinese Chongqing Centre for Disease Control and Prevention by the Thay Khang Hospital. Its contents were later quoted by a Chinese media outlet saying that a patient in Sihanoukville tested positive for the virus.

“After receiving this information, the provincial administrative and health officials immediately intervened to quarantine him in a separate room at the provincial hospital and take the patient’s sample for examination at the Pasteur Institute of Cambodia.

“However, the results came back negative. He had a pneumonia which was caused by excessive smoking,” he said..

He added: “Such publication has caused confusion. Therefore, the Preah Sihanouk provincial joint working group has asked the hospital to contact the Chinese media outlet and Chongqing Centre for Disease Control and Prevention to rectify the false information.

“This distortion of information played a role in the decision to suspend the hospital’s business operations. However, the main reason still remains to be due to the hospital’s lack of a ministry permit,” he added.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50692507/p ... f-bird-flu
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Re: Holland America Cruise Ship to Dock at Sihanoukville

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Ravensnest wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2020 8:35 pm
Kammekor wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2020 7:38 am
Ravensnest wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2020 7:13 am One of my students was 5 mins late to her first class on Monday. Turns out she went to the hospital before school at 6am with a fever and a cough. They never tested her for coronavirus, told her it was a cold and sent her on her way. At 7:35am when she arrived and I found out, I sent her home and she did not return yesterday.
Same Monday, same class, at the end of the 50 min class, a second student showed up late. Appears her sister had the same symptoms and the hospital also never tested her for coronavirus. That student did not come to school yesterday.
That Monday morning on the way to school, I passed a decently dressed man with his wife/gf/some female on the back of his moto. By her clothing I speculated she was on her way to work. They were parked along a side walk while he was throwing up.

They are not testing ppl here. It is here. Be careful.
Devil's advocate here, an average student in the US showing up at a doc with a fever and a cough won't be tested as well.
we are not in the US sir. in the surrounding countries, anyone with the symptoms is tested
I seriously doubt everyone reporting with a fever and a cough gets either a CT scan or another test. In suspected areas, Yes -probably, nationwide - impossible.
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Re: Holland America Cruise Ship to Dock at Sihanoukville

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Interesting. A Chinese national reports to the clinic and they diagnose pneumonia and seriously suspected COVID-19. They contact specialists in China for backup but the magic Pasteur wand makes it a pneumonia caused by smoking.
Subsequently the ‘no license’ card is played and the clinic is closed.
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Re: Holland America Cruise Ship to Dock at Sihanoukville

Post by atst »

So we have an American comedian who potentially has the virus thinks he's great because he sneaked back home, if he did infact have the virus, how many people would have this dumb guy infected , he should be imprisoned for a long time for what he did.
Hospitals who test positive to the virus get shut down

KOW gets better and better
I'm standing up, so I must be straight.
What's a poor man do when the blues keep following him around.(Smoking Dynamite)
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Re: Holland America Cruise Ship to Dock at Sihanoukville

Post by newkidontheblock »

Maybe Pasteur got a bad batch of testing kits..


https:/www.foxnews.com/health/some-coronavirus ... ve-cdc.amp
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