BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN – Brunei recorded eight new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, after over a year without any community transmission.
The health ministry (MoH) said five people at a hotel were likely exposed to COVID-19 from a traveller who was quarantining at the same location. Three were fully vaccinated while the other two had received one dose.
In unrelated cases, another two people tested positive for the coronavirus after complaining of feeling ill. MoH said it is still investigating the source of infection.
The final case is an imported infection, a 37-year-old man who arrived in the sultanate from the Middle East. He had been fully vaccinated.
In light of the these new developments, the government has reintroduced a number of control measures for a two-week period:
- Social gatherings are capped at 30 people.
- All educational institutions must close physical premises and shift to online learning.
- Restaurants will be limited to takeaway and delivery, with no dine-in customers allowed.
- Mosques and places of worship must close.
- Recreation centres including gyms, cinemas, internet cafés, playgrounds, museums and galleries must close.
- Salons and barber shops must close.
- Businesses have been urged to implement a work-from-home policy, allowing only essential workers on physical premises.
- Masks are now mandatory in all indoor spaces, as well as any crowded outdoor spaces.