BY James Kon & Adib Noor

The weekly average rate of COVID-19 cases in the Sultanate has shown a decreasing trend, said Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Mohd Yussof as Acting Minister of Health on Monday.

In the past week, the average number of cases was 1,199, while 11.3 per cent of 73,631 results from antigen rapid testing (ART) uploaded on the BruHealth app were positive for COVID-19, he said during the press conference on the latest pandemic situation.

Meanwhile, 1,024 new cases were reported on Monday, 1,009 of which were from ART and 15 from 341 RT-PCR laboratory tests, the minister said, adding that there were no fatalities in the past 24 hours.

There is one case in Category 5, requiring treatment at the intensive care unit, while six Category 4 cases are receiving respiratory assistance and being closely monitored.

Over 99 per cent of cases in the past week have been found to be in Categories 1 and 2 and do not require hospital care.

As of July 24, the vaccination rate of three doses increased to 74.6 per cent, with 6.2 per cent having received the fourth shot, said the minister.

Meanwhile, 79.2 per cent of children aged five to 11 have been administered with the second dose, and 52.7 per cent of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 have received the first booster.

Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi also reminded the public to upload their ART results, be it positive or negative, onto the BruHealth app to assist the MoH in monitoring the situation.

The minister also urged parents to not be overly concerned about the risk of infection from recently-recovered COVID patients who have completed their quarantine order.

“Recovered patients are able to work or attend school as normal, even if they are still experiencing mild symptoms,” he said.

The minister cited studies that found that it is not uncommon for recently-recovered patients to still have coughs or slight fatigue.

“These individuals are safe to return to work or school. They don’t carry any risk of infecting others,” the minister said.

-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin