BY James Kon

On influenza cases and influenza-like infections (ILI) in the past week, Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar said the trend continues to show a decrease.

He advised the public to remain vigilant and take preventive measures such as self-isolating if experiencing signs of infection and avoiding crowded places; seeing a doctor immediately if signs of infection persist or worsen; and getting the influenza vaccination, especially among the over-60s and those with health problems.

The minister said this during the weekly press conference on the COVID-19 situation in the country.

Meanwhile, the Sultanate reported a jump in daily new COVID-19 cases, where the average last week was 554 cases per day, compared to 485 per day the previous week, he added.

Some 39,588 antigen rapid test (ART) results were uploaded to the BruHealth app within the week, of which 9.7 per cent were positive results. A high of 586 new cases was reported on Monday, of which 581 cases were from ART results and five were from 144 RT-PCR laboratory tests performed in the past 24 hours.

He also revealed there are no cases in Category 5 requiring treatment in the intensive care unit.

Meanwhile, there is one case in Category 4 requiring respiratory assistance and close supervision.

As of Sunday, the rate of vaccination coverage of COVID-19 in Brunei Darussalam remains at a high level with 78.7 per cent of all citizens and residents of the country having received three doses of the vaccine and 10.9 per cent having received the fourth dose.

Also present at the press conference was Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health Haji Maswadi bin Haji Mohsin.

-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin