PHNOM PENH, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) — Cambodian Ministry of Health, in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), on Friday provided a half-day training course to journalists on reporting about COVID-19.
Ministry of Health secretary of state and spokeswoman Or Vandine said the course was designed to help journalists report on the virus correctly so as to avoid creating chaos, fears, discrimination or public misunderstanding.
“The course is vital to help further increase knowledge and skills for journalists in reporting about COVID-19 correctly,” she said at the event.
“I’ve seen that there have been many pieces of fake news on social media about the virus outbreak, so it’s necessary that we need to work together to fight against those pieces of fake news.”
Vandine said social media users should not share any unsourced information about the COVID-19 because it could cause chaos or fears among the public.
Cambodia confirmed the first and only case of COVID-19 on Jan. 27. The victim is a 60-year-old Chinese man from the central Chinese city of Wuhan. He was discharged from the hospital on Feb. 10 after fully recovering from the disease.
The spokeswoman said that to date, there has been no new confirmed case of the virus in Cambodia; however, the country still continues to strengthen thermal scanning at all airports, ports and border checkpoints to prevent the virus from spreading to the kingdom.
COVID-19 is transmitted through being in proximity to an infected person and inhaling droplets generated when the infected person coughs or sneezes, or touching a surface where these droplets land and then touching one’s face or nose, Vandine said, urging people to wash hands frequently and wear masks if necessary.
Its symptoms include high body temperature (above 38 degrees centigrade), sore throat and shortness of breath, she said.
Li Ailan, World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Cambodia, said although Cambodia has had only one confirmed case of COVID-19 so far, everyone had a very important role to protect the country from the virus.
“It’s crucial that we can provide people with accurate and useful information about this virus disease,” she said.
“The World Health Organization has been working closely with the Ministry of Health to provide accurate information as much as possible to the Cambodian people,” she added.
