BANGKOK • Hungary's foreign minister tested positive for coronavirus in Thailand, the kingdom's health minister said yesterday, a day after Mr Peter Szijjarto jetted in from a meeting with Cambodian Premier Hun Sen.

Mr Szijjarto flew into Phnom Penh on Tuesday for a one-day official visit to sign agreements on civil aviation, agriculture and water management, as well as to reopen an embassy after a 25-year hiatus.

On Tuesday night, he arrived in Bangkok and was swiftly taken to hospital after testing positive for the virus on arrival.

The test "showed he has Covid-19, but he didn't have any symptoms", Thailand's Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters after he visited Mr Szijjarto at Bamrasnaradura Infectious Disease Institute yesterday. "His entourage all tested negative."

During his Cambodia visit, Mr Szijjarto was pictured with Mr Hun Sen at a meeting where neither appeared to be socially distancing or wearing a mask. He also met his Cambodian counterpart and shook hands with other ministers.

All of them will now be tested and quarantined. "The leaders and all officials who met and had direct contact with the delegation... will be tested for Covid-19 and quarantined," Cambodia's Foreign Affairs Ministry said.

Mr Szijjarto's scheduled meetings in the Thai capital were cancelled, and an extra plane was ordered from Hungary to transport him home, separately from his staff.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE