MEDIA STATEMENT
ON THE CURRENT SITUATION OF COVID-19
IN BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
17 Muharram 1443 / 26 August 2021
1. Today, Thursday 17 Muharram 1443 / 26 August 2021, by the will of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’Ala and with a heavy heart, the Ministry of Health would like to inform the public that two more COVID-19 confirmed cases have returned to the grace and mercy of Allah.
2. The first case was a 52 year old male who was Case 2197 that was reported positive on 25 August 2021. The late patient suffered from intracerebral haemorrhage bleeding and is not categorised as death due to COVID-19. Whereas the second case was a 51 year old local male who was Case 869 that was reported on 17 August 2021. Allahyarham suffered from lung infection after being infected with COVID-19.
3. In light of this, in order to protect and respect the privacy as well as confidentiality of both the cases’ family, the Ministry of Health will not share the personal details of both the deceased. Members of the public are also requested to respect and not disseminate information relating to both the cases.
4. In this opportunity, myself representing the Ministry of Health as well as the people of Brunei Darussalam, would like to express our deepest condolences to the late patient’s and Allahyarham’s family. May the family of the deceased be given patience and strength in seeing his passing and Allahyarham’s soul will receive blessings and placed among the pious. Al-Fatihah.
(Recital of Al-Fatihah)
5. Next, the Ministry of Health would like to announce that today, one hundred and six (106) new cases of COVID-19 have been detected in the country bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases to 2,265.
- Today, two new clusters have been detected that brings the total number of active clusters to 42 clusters. These new clusters are Cluster 1888 that contains 11 cases and Cluster 2085 that contains 8 cases.
- There are 42 additional new cases to 13 of the existing active clusters. The cases in these active clusters are individuals who are currently being quarantined and were found to be in contact with several confirmed cases.
- Meanwhile, 47 cases are still being investigated to determine the source of the infection.
- Contact tracing for all these new cases is currently undergoing. All identified close contacts are required to undergo mandatory quarantine and RT-PCR SARS-CoV-2 test.
6. Meanwhile, forty-one (41) cases have recovered today bringing the total of recovered cases to 578 cases. This means, a total of 1,678 active cases have been recorded in Brunei Darussalam.
7. Among the active cases, five cases are in critical condition, where four cases require ventilators and one case requires the help of an additional heart/lung machine (ECMO). Meanwhile, thirty (30) other cases have been admitted at the Intensive Care Unit for close monitoring.
8. The cases that are being treated at the National Isolation Centre and other isolation centres are divided into 5 categories as follow:
- Category 1 are cases that do not have any signs of infection.
- Category 2 are cases that have signs of infection but do not have lung infection or pneumonia.
- Category 3 are cases that have signs of infection as well as lung infection or pneumonia.
- Category 4 are cases that have lung infection or pneumonia and require oxygen support. These cases normally require close monitoring at the Intensive Care Unit.
- Meanwhile Category 5 are critical cases where the COVID-19 infection has caused multiple organ failure. These cases normally require ventilators or heart/lung machine (ECMO).
9. At this time, 70.6% of the cases are in Category 1; 17.7% in Category 2; 6% in Category 3; 5.1% in Category 4; and 0.8% in Category 5.
10. With that, 8 cases are of pregnant women who are currently being treated at the National Isolation Centre, whereas two more cases have recovered. On 24 August 2021, one case who was also a pregnant woman has safely delivered a baby boy at the Centre. The mother had undergone caesarean delivery to reduce the chance of adverse effect from COVID-19 infection. At this time, both the mother and child are in good health.
11. Pregnant women are included in those who are at high risk of severe side effects from the COVID-19 infection. The existing Government Policy has allowed pregnant women in the country to get the COVID-19 vaccine injection to protect themselves and the unborn child. Since the National Vaccination Programme was opened to all pregnant women, only 1701 pregnant women out of 2776 individuals have been registered, which means only 61.3% have turned up to get the COVID-19 vaccine injection. Pregnant women are advised to get the COVID-19 vaccine injection to protect themselves and their families.
12. In the past 24 hours, a total of 4,212 samples have been tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus which brings the total number of laboratory tests conducted since January 2020 to 217,168 tests.
13. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health would also like to inform the public that results from the genotyping or sequencing tests of several samples of local cases that was sent overseas, the results from the laboratory testing have shown that all of the 20 samples that was sent are of the Delta variant. The Ministry of Health would like to once again remind the public to not panic on this matter. The Delta variant is known to be 2-3 times more infectious that other variants. However, the prevention and control measures of any COVID-19 variant remains the same, such as getting a COVID-19 vaccine injection, wearing face mask when outdoors especially in crowded areas, frequent hand washing with soap and water or by using hand sanitizer. Abide by the instructions that have been issued to ensure we can together control the spread the COVID-19 infection in the country. #Teranahtahdirumah
14. In this regard, to ensure the well-being of the citizen and residents of this country, the Ministry of Health have listed the types of Antigen Rapid Test (ART) test kits that have been approved for use in Brunei Darussalam. Companies looking to acquire these ART test kits for sale to the public can refer to the list that is shown on the screen now. This list is also made available on the Ministry of Health’s website.
15. For further information and latest updates, please visit the official website of the Ministry of Health at www.moh.gov.bn or through the BruHealth App. Any inquiries on COVID-19 can also be directed to the Health Advice Line 148 or emailed to: askhal@moh.gov.bn.
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Reference : KK/PR/2
Date : 17 Muharram 1443H / 26 August 2021