Brunei records three new clusters, three imported cases

BRUNEI (Borneo Bulletin/Asia News Network): Brunei recorded 75 new cases including three imported cases, bringing the national tally of confirmed cases to 13,321 on Tuesday (Nov 2).

Minister of Health Dr Mohd Isham Jaafar said there were 26 new cases to eight existing clusters, who were previously close contacts to several positive cases.

Three new clusters have been detected involving 20 cases. Syazwanes Contractor Cluster, Meem Cluster, and Ban 3 Construction Staffhouse Cluster are all accommodation clusters housing employees.

Twenty-six new cases are being investigated to determine the sources of the infection.

Meanwhile, on the imported cases, Mohd Isham said, “Two cases arrived in Brunei from Kuala Lumpur on Oct 20, while one case arrived in Brunei from Manila on Oct 27.

“One cluster – Cluster 5182 – has been closed following no new cases detected for 28 days, bringing the number of active clusters to 172.”

He said 221 cases recovered as of Tuesday, bringing the total number of recovered cases to 11,723, while the number of active cases stand at 1,508.

Of the cases receiving treatment, Mohd Isham said six in Category 5 were at the intensive care unit and required artificial ventilation assistance.

“Meanwhile, 15 cases are categorised in Category 4, requiring oxygen assistance and are under close monitoring," he said at the daily press conference on Tuesday.

“Over the past 24 hours, 5,047 samples have been tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, bringing the total number of laboratory tests conducted since January 2020 to 512,574,” the minister added.