James Kon and Izah Azahari
Brunei Darussalam recorded 29 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, bringing the national tally of confirmed cases to 15,986. Of the 29 cases, 24 are local and five imported.
Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar announced this at the press conference, adding that the new cases are the result of 2,380 laboratory tests conducted over the past 24 hours. The rate of positive cases today stands at 1.2 per cent.
At the National Isolation Centre, one case is in Category 4, requiring oxygen assistance and close monitoring.
Thirty four cases have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 15,506 cases.
The total number of active cases stands at 378, while the bed occupancy rate at isolation centres nationwide is 8.9 per cent.
Over the past few days, the number of local cases have been quite high, particularly on January 18, which recorded 55 cases, 41 of which were local cases. Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham explained that the high figures were the result of contact tracing, before reminding the public that there is no need to worry.
“The 41 individuals were found to be contacts. They were swabbed and tested COVID-19 positive. Fortunately, these cases were identified early.
“The public need not feel anxious about the rising local numbers, as most of it is the result of contact tracing. It is important that we know where the link is – through contact tracing,” the minister said, adding that these clusters originated primarily from homes and are therefore classified as residential clusters.
Meanwhile, providing updates on the national vaccination status, Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham said, “As of January 18, 2022, the overall rate of the population who have received at least one dose of the vaccine is 94.7 per cent, while 93.8 per cent have received two doses, and 34.7 per cent have received the booster shot.”
Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health Haji Maswadi bin Haji Mohsin also attended.
