BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Sept 21 (NNN-ANN) – Brunei Darussalam recorded a massive spike with 214 new COVID-19 cases, raising the confirmed cases tally to 5,261. Seven new clusters were also found, five of which are individual clusters.
This was revealed by the Minister of Health Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar, at the daily press conference yesterday.
The minister said, “There are 44 new cases found from 13 existing active clusters, comprising individuals currently being quarantined and were found in contact with several confirmed cases.”
On the new clusters, he said, “They are Cluster 3440 with four cases, Cluster 4323 with three cases, Cluster 4944 with 15 cases, Cluster 4868 with 10 cases, Cluster 4917 with 12 cases and Hua Ho Manggis Mall Cluster, with 12 new cases. All these new clusters include cases with unidentified sources of infection.”
Dr Haji Mohd Isham added, “One new cluster, Rimba Complex Cluster with seven cases, was the result of the mass swabbing operation conducted on Saturday.
“Further investigation and follow-up actions, such as quarantining for close contacts are underway.”
Clusters 362 and 1257 have been closed, following no new detected cases for 28 days, bringing the total number of active clusters to 95.
Meanwhile, one import case has been reported, arriving in the country from Singapore on Sept 14, on board Royal Brunei BI422, while 106 cases are still being investigated to determine the sources of infection.
Dr Haji Mohd Isham also shared that, 118 cases have recovered, bringing the total number of recovered cases to 3,575. The total number of active cases stands at 1,652.
“Among the active cases, eight are in critical condition, seven requiring the assistance of artificial ventilation, while one requiring the help of an additional heart/lung machine.
“Twenty-two cases in Category 4 have been admitted to the intensive care unit for close monitoring.”
A total of 3,724 samples have been tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of laboratory tests conducted since Jan, 2020 to 307,015.– NNN-ANN