The Media Conference on the latest COVID 19 situation will be adjourned on the 24th of December 2021 until Sunday, 26th of December 2021. The next Media Conference will be held on Monday, 27th of December 2021. At the media conference, the Minister of Health also confirmed that the first case of the Omicron variant that has been detected in Brunei Darussalam.
The case arrived in the country from the United Kingdom on the 17th of December 2021, with the case being quarantined upon arrival in the country and all the close contacts were also instructed to undergo laboratory tests and self-isolation. Currently, the case is in good health and no longer experiencing any signs of infection. Scientific findings on the Omicron variant show that although this variant is more transmissible than the Delta variant, the effect of the symptoms or infection is less severe. As for the findings of the study in South Africa, the increase in cases due to the Omicron variant including the speed of reaching the peak of the infection is faster than other variants, including the Delta variant and currently, the infection wave due to the Omicron variant in South Africa is already declining. As with the data from London, although more cases were reported compared to the previous wave, the Omicron variant was found to cause less hospitalizations and deaths. This is supported by findings in which the actual infection of the Omicron variant requiring hospital treatment in London is lower than the projection calculated based on the Delta variant data.
Source: Radio Television Brunei