Three Cambodian peacekeepers in Mali test positive for COVID-19

Three Cambodian peacekeepers in Mali test positive for COVID-19

Three Cambodian Peacekeepers fulfilling their mission in Mali have tested positive for COVID-19, the first cases to be found among the kingdom’s blue helmets.

Lieutenant General Phal Samorn, deputy director-general and spokesman of the National Centre for Peacekeeping Force, told Khmer Times that peacekeepers who tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, include a 28-year-old officer and two male officers, age 24 and 49. All of them are from an engineering Unit stationed in Kidal town, Mali.

“The three are now in quarantine rooms set by their unit, and waiting to be transported to the hospital,” he said. “Those who have been in contact with them have also been quarantined and monitored closely.”

‘Meanwhile, the headquarter in Kidal is working​ with the headquarter in the capital of Damako to request for the medical officials in the area to collect the samples from all 82 Cambodian peacekeepers in Kidal to be tested for COVID-19,” adding that there are 300 Cambodian peacekeepers stationed in 6 areas all over Mali.

Lt Gen Samorn said two peacekeepers from Bangladesh were also diagnosed with COVID-19.

Speaking in a press conference earlier this month, Prime Minister Hun Sen called for extra attention to Cambodian blue helmet forces amid COVID-19 which by yesterday has globally infected more than 2.7 million people and took over 190,000 lives.

However, according to Lt Gen Samorn, a number of measures are already in place to protect the health of Cambodian peacekeepers, currently fulfilling the UN missions in Mali, Central Africa, South Sudan, Lebanon, and Yemen, from COVID-19.

“We have prepared soap and water and hand sanitiser at all our peacekeepers’ stations for them to wash their hands regularly and have asked them to wear masks,” Lt Gen Samorn said.

“We also allocated $5,000 to our units stationed in each of the countries in which they are stationed to buy medical supplies and protective gear to ensure they are guarded against contracting the virus. The National Centre for Peacekeeping Force is in touch with them 24 hours per day, and will assist them when there is an emergency.”

Earlier this month, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres suspended the rotation and deployment of uniformed personnel, including individual officers and existing police and military peacekeeping units because of the novel coronavirus until June 30.

Credited: Khmer Times