BY James Kon

The Sultanate recorded one COVID-19 patient fatality in the past 24 hours which was not categorised as death due to COVID-19.

Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar shared the news of the passing during the weekly press conference on the COVID-19 New Normal.

The minister said, ”Representing the Ministry of Health (MoH) as well as the people of Brunei Darussalam, we express our condolences to the deceased’s family and pray that his soul will receive blessings and be placed among the pious.”

Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham also revealed the slight but continuous increase of new COVID-19 cases in the past week.

“In the past week, the number of COVID-19 cases reported in Brunei has shown a slight increase where the average daily rate of cases was at about 268 cases per day compared to 210 cases per day last week.

“However, the trend shows that transmission remains low.”

Some 45,365 antigen rapid test (ART) results were uploaded to the BruHealth app in the last week, of which 4.1 per cent were positive.

Meanwhile the minister highlighted that 305 new cases were reported on Monday, of which 304 cases were from ART results and one case from 110 RT-PCR laboratory tests performed in the past 24 hours.

There are no cases in Category 4 requiring oxygen assistance and close monitoring, and Category 5 requiring treatment at the intensive care unit.

The minister shared that the rate of COVID-19 vaccination coverage in the country remains at a high level, with 78.5 per cent of citizens and residents of the country having received the third dose of the vaccine and 10.5 per cent also having received the fourth dose.

Also in attendance at the press conference was Permanent Secretary at the MoH Haji Maswadi bin Haji Mohsin.

-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin