File photo for illustration purposes only.
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (Aug 8): The Brunei government announced stricter social distancing measures after the country reported eight new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, including seven local infections and one imported case, Xinhua reported.
The local infections were the first to be reported since May 6, 2020.
According to Brunei’s Health Ministry, the control measures were reinstated for two weeks with immediate effect, including closing religious places, schools switching to online learning, no dine-in for restaurants, and closing indoor and outdoor sports facilities, leisure centres and cinemas.
Meanwhile, to address the concerns on the spread of the Delta variant around the world, including in Brunei, the Health Ministry now requires that face masks be worn at all times, especially indoors or in crowded places, and covering the nose and mouth. The directive is applicable to all individuals regardless of their vaccination status.
With the eight new cases reported on Saturday, Brunei’s national tally of Covid-19 cases increased to 347.
According to the Health Ministry, five of the seven local cases had no history of travelling abroad in recent months, and were related to a monitoring centre in Brunei.
The remaining two local cases have unknown origins of infection with mild symptoms but no overseas travelling history.
The imported case is a 37-year-old man who arrived in the country on July 30 from the Middle East via Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The health ministry said that contact tracing for the new cases is underway. – Bernama