BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Brunei reported one new imported case of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the national tally to 147.
According to Brunei's Ministry of Health, the case is a 25-year-old female arriving at Brunei on Oct. 7 from Nepal. The woman reportedly had coughs since Oct. 11 and is currently being treated at the National Isolation Center.
The Ministry of Health has identified a total of three contacts, who have all undergone the COVID-19 swab tests and were confirmed negative. All contacts are undergoing quarantine.
This is the first confirmed case reported in Brunei this month. With the detection of this latest case, a total of six imported cases have been confirmed since the last local infection case on May 6, 2020. At present, Brunei has recorded 161 days without COVID-19 local infection case.
Meanwhile, 337 individuals are currently undergoing mandatory self-isolation at the monitoring centers provided by the government, who have arrived at the country after traveling abroad.
There have been three deaths resulted from COVID-19 in Brunei and a total of 143 patients have recovered.
The Ministry of Health also said that since the enforcement of the directives issued during the pandemic in June 2020, a total of 967 business premises have been inspected nationwide, where 574 violations have been found and compound fines issued.
Among the common offenses are that food handlers not wearing face masks while working and premises not performing temperature checks on customers and visitors.
The Ministry of Health said it will take legal action against anyone who does not comply with the directives issued. It will continue to monitor the situation of the outbreak at national, regional and global levels and carry out ongoing risk assessments to consider further mitigation measures.
"If the outbreak situation becomes alarming yet again, the Ministry of Health will not hesitate to tighten the social distancing measures that need to be taken to control the outbreak," the ministry added. Enditem
