MEDIA STATEMENT
ON THE CURRENT SITUATION OF COVID-19
IN BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
18 Muharram 1443 / 27 August 2021
1. The Ministry of Health would like to inform the public that today, Friday, 18 Muharram 1443H / 27 August 2021, one hundred and fifteen (115) new cases of COVID-19 have been detected in the country bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases to 2,380.
- Today, one new cluster have been detected that brings the total number of active clusters to 43 clusters. This new cluster is Cluster 2262 that contains 6 cases.
- There are 48 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, there are 3 import cases that are recorded today:
- 1 case arrived in Brunei Darussalam from the Netherlands via Singapore on 13 August 2021 on board Singapore Airlines SQ 148.
- 1 case arrived in Brunei Darussalam from the Netherlands via Kuala Lumpur on 13 August 2021 on board Royal Brunei BI 874.
- 1 case arrived in Brunei Darussalam from Ireland via Kuala Lumpur on 13 August 2021 on board Royal Brunei BI 874.
- Meanwhile, 59 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.
2. Thirty-five (35) cases have recovered today bringing the total of recovered cases to 613 cases. This means, a total of 1,757 active cases have been recorded in Brunei Darussalam.
3. 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, twenty-nine (29) cases have been admitted at the Intensive Care Unit for close monitoring.
4. With that, there are 8 cases comprising of pregnant women who are currently being treated at the National Isolation Centre. On 26 August 2021, one more case who was also a pregnant woman has safely delivered a baby boy at the Centre. At this time, both the mother and child are in good health.
5. In the past 24 hours, a total of 3,658 samples have been tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus which brings the total number of laboratory tests conducted since January 2020 to 220,826 tests.
6. Meanwhile, with regards to some cases that have been confirmed positive but are still waiting to be transferred to the National Isolation Centre, the Ministry of Health would like to inform that efforts are underway to transfer them to designated isolation centres for monitoring and treatment. Priority will be given to those who really need immediate medical treatment such as those suffering from shortness of breath, high fever or diarrhoea.
7. At the same time, there are some positive cases that were found to be asymptomatic (have no signs of infection) or only have mild signs of infection. These cases are advised to continue to self-isolate from other family members and call the Ambulance Emergency Line 991 if the signs of infection become severe.
8. Members of the public who have any inquiries on COVID-19 can call the Health Advice Line 148 or email to askhal@moh.gov.bn. For the public’s information, the Health Advice Line 148 service receives about 1,000 calls, 100 emails and up to 2,000 messages via social media (WhatsApp and Telegram) daily. Currently, most public inquiries are related to the delivery of food aid and quarantine order that are issued to contacts of cases who are confirmed positive. Any inquiries related to quarantine will be given a reference code and subsequently channelled to the Quarantine Appeal Team. Therefore, any individual who are contacted by the Quarantine Appeal Team are requested to provide the required information in full including the reference code provided when making the appeal to enable the quarantine appeal by the individual to be assessed properly and thoroughly. The quarantine appeal process will take up to 5 working days.
9. For further information and latest updates, the public can visit the official website of the Ministry of Health at www.moh.gov.bn or through the BruHealth App.
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Reference : KK/PR/2
Date : 18 Muharram 1443H / 27 August 2021