BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Feb 8 (NNN-ANN) – Brunei is suffering its third wave of COVID-19, with surging infections in the past several weeks, and the government has urged people to get their third vaccine doses as early as possible.
Brunei reported 368 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, bringing the total tally to 18,152.
With all the newly recorded cases identified as local infections, the country witnessed a quickly rising number of weekly new cases.
The country’s COVID-19 tally hit 1,371 from Jan 31 to Feb 6, 2022, up from 281 in the past week, which is also higher than the caseloads of 251 and 247 for the previous two weeks.
According to a statement from Brunei’s Ministry of Health last night, the country is now going through the third wave of COVID-19, “where the number of cases is expected to increase beyond the total reported during the second wave.”
However, the health ministry said, the number of severe cases, who would require oxygen assistance and intensive care during the third wave “will continue to be low and not exceed the number logged in the second wave.”
“The Omicron variant has been found to be replacing the Delta variant as the main or dominant variant in Brunei Darussalam at this time,” the health ministry said, adding that, all the Omicron variant cases detected in Brunei only had mild symptoms or were asymptomatic.
“In this regard, we should not feel panic. We should continue to be prepared for the increase in cases of the Omicron variant that has been anticipated,” the ministry said.
“COVID-19 will be with us, and we have to live with it, together,” it said.
The ministry urged the public to adhere to the standard operation procedures (SOPs) and guidelines set by the government and to “practice our social responsibility as we live with COVID-19.”
The guidelines listed by the health ministry include, getting the third dose of the vaccine, as soon as possible, wearing a face mask when outdoors, and maintaining physical distancing. However, unlike during the second wave, the country introduced no tougher social control measures, such as, a longer curfew period or work-from-home order this time.
As of Feb 6, 94.9 percent of Brunei’s population have received at least one dose of the vaccines, while 94.0 percent have got their two doses and 42.4 percent have received three jabs.
Haji Mohd Isham, the country’s health minister, said, the booster shot intake had decreased in the past few weeks, though the government had ensured the access to booster shots.
Brunei should already be reaching 70 percent of the third dose vaccination rate by the middle or end of Jan, “however, we are still at 40 percent,” he said.
A total of 1,872 active cases are currently being treated and monitored in Brunei, and 102 patients have died from the virus.– NNN-ANN
