Coronavirus Infection Found After Cruise Ship Passengers Disperse

In Cambodia, the cruise line found a country whose leader, closely allied with Chinese officials, has cast doubts on the seriousness of the coronavirus outbreak, which has infected some 68,000 people and killed more than 1,600 in China.

“Is there any Cambodian or foreigner in Cambodia who has died of the disease?” Prime Minister Hun Sen said earlier this month. “The real disease happening in Cambodia right now is the disease of fear.”

And on Friday, President Trump tweeted his thanks to Cambodia for allowing the ship, more than 600 of whose passengers were Americans, to dock.

But by opening his arms to Westerdam, Mr. Hun Sen may have put his own citizens at risk.

As of Sunday, 233 passengers and 747 crew members were still on the ship docked at Sihanoukville, Cambodia, Holland America said. After Malaysia’s announcement that a passenger was infected, the remaining passengers and crew members were restricted to the ship, and buses that had been scheduled to transport them remained parked nearby.

It was unclear whether Cambodia would seek to quarantine passengers who are still in the country, or whether those who had left by plane would face quarantine in their own countries when they arrived.

On Sunday, Malaysia’s deputy prime minister, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, said at a news conference that the American woman confirmed to be infected after she left the ship had tested positive twice for the virus.