Nine COVID-19 cases have passed away in the past 72 hours, with two cases categorised as death due to the virus, said Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah at a press conference yesterday.
The minister said the Ministry of Health (MoH) is currently investigating the causes of death, and once determined, an announcement will be made.
Meanwhile, the two deaths were unvaccinated cases, the minister added.
PHNOM PENH (PHNOM PENH POST/ANN) – The Cambodian Ministry of Health has reported only 97 new COVID-19 cases, nine of which were imported and all were confirmed to be the Omicron variant.
The ministry also reported 152 recoveries and one new death.
As of March 20, Cambodia had recorded a total of 134,986 Covid-19 cases with 130,956 recoveries and 3,051 fatalities.
Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping has committed another 20 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Cambodia, five million of which are expected to arrive late this month.
KOTA BARU (THE STAR) – Malaysia’s Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (K-KOMM) has issued a stern warning to all operators of television stations not to display any scenes that touch on religious and other sensitivities in the country.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa said the ministry would not hesitate to take action if there were television stations that violated the guidelines set.
“Under the current regulation, the government gives the authority to censor drama content to the television station itself.
“If we find that the television station does not follow certain guidelines, especially touching on issues related to religion, culture, customs and so on, then I will review the facility (censorship authority), and we may revoke it,” he told reporters after presenting donations to Form Six students in the Ketereh parliamentary constituency in conjunction with the “Back To School” programme yesterday.
TAIPEI (AP) – Hong Kong’s leader said yesterday that the government would consider lifting strict social distancing measures as new COVID-19 infections in the city continued trending downward.
“I wouldn’t promise now that there’s room for adjustment,” Chief Executive Carrie Lam said. “But following a review, we have a duty to account for the findings in this review and the direction we will take.”
BRUSSELS (AP) – A car slammed at high speed into carnival revellers in a small town in southern Belgium early yesterday, killing six people and leaving 10 more with life-threatening injuries. Several dozen were more lightly injured.
“What should have been a great party turned into a tragedy,” said Belgian Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden.
The prosecutor’s office said that in the early stages of the investigation there were no elements to suspect a terror motive, and two locals in their thirties were arrested at the scene in Strépy-Bracquegnies, some 50 kilometres south of Brussels.
LVIV, UKRAINE (AP) – Ukrainian authorities said yesterday that Russia’s military bombed an art school sheltering some 400 people in the embattled port city of Mariupol, where Ukraine’s president said an unrelenting Russian siege would be remembered for centuries to come.
It was the second time in less than a week that city officials reported a public building where residents had taken shelter coming under attack. A bomb hit a Mariupol theatre with more than 1,300 believed to be inside on Wednesday, local officials said.
There was no immediate word on casualties from the reported strike on the art school, which The Associated Press could not independently verify. Ukrainian officials have not given an update on the search of the theatre since Friday, when they said at least 130 had been rescued.
IRBIL, Iraq (AP) – Once a lavish mansion, the sprawling home of an Iraqi Kurdish oil tycoon was laid to waste in a barrage of missiles that struck near a United States (US) consulate complex in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil earlier this week.
Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard said it launched the attack last Sunday, firing off 12 cruise missiles at what it described as a “strategic centre” of the Israeli spy agency Mossad – in retaliation for an Israeli strike in Syria that killed two of the Iranian paramilitary force’s members the previous week.
CEO of the Iraqi Kurdish oil company KAR group Baz Karim Barzinji denies any links to Mossad. The missiles gutted his home but he said he is grateful his family was unharmed.
UPI – An inflatable water park that emcompasses 138,451 square feet in the United Arab Emirates was declared the largest of its kind by Guinness World Records.
The Aqua Fun water park in Dubai was officially dubbed the world’s largest water park by Guinness World Records during celebrations surrounding Expo 2020, which runs until March 30 in Dubai.
His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam yesterday sent a congratulatory message to German President Franck-Walter Steinmeier on the occasion of his re-appointment as president of Germany.
COVID-19 antigen rapid test (ART) users must strictly follow the instructions in the COVID-19 Antigen Detection Kit package insert, Director of Laboratory Services at the Ministry of Health (MoH) Dr Hajah Surita binti Haji Mohd Taib told the Sunday Bulletin in an online interview yesterday.
“It is very important to use the proper sample type; other sample types may cause inaccurate or invalid test results. Also, ensure a sufficient amount of a sample is used for testing. Too much or too little may also cause inaccurate results,” she said.
Different ART results (for example, different test line intensity) may be due to the amount of sample load. Hence, the test depends heavily on the quality and sufficient volume of the sample collected. Performing multiple ART screenings at once may also yield inaccurate results during which an individual may have one ART kit return COVID-positive, and another negative. This is because the sample from the later test had insufficient antigen to be detected.
Meanwhile, Dr Hajah Surita said the Department of Laboratory Services has carried out quality assurance assessments to ensure all MoH-authorised art kits are reliable and suitable for supply to the Brunei market.
With regards to the difference in the Newgene test kit packaging, she explained, “I was informed by suppliers in the Sultanate that the manufacturer of Newgene has different packaging for Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam. The MoH-authorised suppliers carry a different packaging. We do not know if the kits are fake. We will know once they undergo the quality assurance test.”
Director of Laboratory Services at the Ministry of Health Dr Hajah Surita binti Haji Mohd Taib. PHOTO: JAMES KON
“Newgene recently introduced the nasal ART kit. The latest packaging is according to the sample type required. If it is nasal, the packaging will carry a nasal label,” she explained.
On the subject of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing for the public, Dr Hajah Surita explained that the current criteria is in accordance with the health protocol stipulating that it will only be administered to individuals with a doctor’s referral and those confused about the ART results after testing both positive and negative.
“Not everyone should take the RT-PCR test anymore. The ART kit is now the default test to screen for the virus,” she said.
Companies are also urged not to send employees to get RT-PCR tested any longer, as “each RT-PCR test cost around BND50”.
In term of cross reactivity with other virus in the test kit, she said, “We check the documentation of ART kit for any cross reactivity with other pathogens. In accordance to the documentation, we found there are no cross reactivity with other pathogens in the kit available.”
“The Brunei government has provided the public access to ART kit, and the MoH through the Laboratory Services will guarantee the quality of ART kits available in Brunei Darussalam.
“We will continue to disseminate information to ensure the ART is done correctly in accordance with the health protocol,” Dr Hajah Surita said.
