James Kon
Brunei Darussalam recorded a new case of COVID-19 yesterday when a foreign man who arrived in the country on October 16 was tested positive for the disease. The 40-year-old is receiving treatment at the National Isolation Centre (NIC).
The number of COVID-19 cases in Brunei has reached 148.
This was revealed by Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Awang Haji Aminuddin Ihsan bin Pehin Orang Kaya Saiful Mulok Dato Seri Paduka Haji Abidin as Acting Minister of Health in a press conference at Al-‘Afiah Hall of the Ministry of Health (MoH) yesterday.
The minister said, “Case 148 is a man aged 40 who arrived in Brunei on Royal Brunei Airlines (RB) flight BI874 seated at 27A on October 16 from Kuala Lumpur. He showed signs of infection (coughs) today. He is now treated and monitored at the NIC.”
He added that MoH identified 18 contacts of which 10 have undergone the COVID-19 swab test and were confirmed negative. The rest are still waiting test results.
With the latest case, the minister said, ”Seven import cases have been confirmed since the last local infection was reported on May 6. At present, Brunei recorded 169 days without local infection.”
He also revealed that 295 individuals are undergoing mandatory self-isolation at the monitoring centres provided by the government after arriving from abroad.
Some 7,248 individuals have completed self-isolation at the monitoring centres.
In the past 24 hours, 284 samples were tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus that brings the total number of laboratory tests conducted since January 2020 to 65,947.
The minister reminded the public to practise personal hygiene, proper cough and sneezing etiquette and wear face masks in crowded public places. If feeling unwell, not to go to public places and attend social gatherings. The public is also urged to use BruHealth app and scan QR codes when entering and exiting premises.
In its breakdown of COVID-19 cases in the country, healthinfo.gov.bn revealed there were 114 cases in the Brunei-Muara District, 28 in the Belait District and six in the Tutong District.
Information can be obtained from the MoH official website at www.moh.gov.bn, Health Advice Line at 148, or through the BruHealth app or healthinfo.gov.bn webapp.