Cambodia PM Hun Sen cancels G20 meetings after testing positive for COVID-19
This comes days after Hun Sen hosted world leaders at an ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh.
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen speaks at the ASEAN Global Dialogue forum during the 40th and 41st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summits in Phnom Penh on Nov 13, 2022. (Photo: AFP/Nhac Nguyen)
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday (Nov 15) cancelled meetings he was due to have at the G20 summit in Bali after testing positive for COVID-19.Â
This comes days after he hosted more than a dozen world leaders including US President Joe Biden at a summit in Phnom Penh.
Asia's longest-ruling leader said in a Facebook post that he got a positive result on arrival in Indonesia, but was not experiencing any symptoms.
Hun Sen had mask-less encounters with leaders from eight Southeast Asian countries as well as the United States, China, Japan, Australia and Canada at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, which wrapped up Sunday.
"Beloved compatriots! Now I have tested positive for COVID-19," he wrote on Facebook, saying he had been tested every day including before flying to the G20 in Bali, and all the results had been negative.
"I am not sure when this virus came to me, but when I arrived, the Indonesians took a sample from me in the evening, and in the morning it confirmed COVID-19 positive."
He said it was "lucky" that he arrived in Bali late and missed a dinner with other leaders.
For safety reasons, the Cambodian delegation will return home on Tuesday, he said, meaning he will miss meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron at the APEC summit in Bangkok later this week.
