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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020
VOL.24 | NO.219
LIFESTYLE
18
A new dimension to cake art
FEATURES
26
Beauty, serenity all rolled into one
WORLD
28
Mom, son safe after 52 hours
trapped in China hotel rubble
BUSINESS
12
Japan unveils fresh economic
package to oset virus damage
HOME
6
Programme instils nationhood spirit
among students
Continue to Page 2
Azlan Othman & James Kon
Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji
Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar urged the public
not to spread rumours and fake news and
requested to refrain from panic buying.
The minister said, “Spreading rumours
will not help us at all. It is more helpful to pray
for the recovery of the patients rather than
spreading fake news.”
He urged the public to read and listen to
formal news sources like the Ministry of Health.
“We are transparent and have nothing to hide,”
the minister told a press brieing yesterday.
Stop spreading
rumours, panic
buying: Minister
Panic buying at a local departmental store. PHOTO: AZLAN OTHMAN
Continue to Page 2
Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji
Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar at the press
conference. PHOTO: SIM Y H
Virus woes shift
from China to Italy
as borders slam shut
BEIJING (AP) — Starkly illustrating the global
east-to-west spread of the new coronavirus,
Italy began an extraordinary, sweeping
nationwide travel ban yesterdaywhile inChina,
the diminishing threat prompted the Chinese
President to visit the epicentre.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to the
central city of Wuhan was the latest sign that
China is edging back toward normal after
weeks of extreme quarantine measures to
ight the new virus.
Continue to Page 2
Azlan Othman
Subsequent to the recent COVID19 an-
nouncement made by the Ministry of
Health (MoH), the Ministry of Education
(MoE) and the Ministry of Religious Affairs
(MoRA) declared today as the commence-
ment of the irst-term school break, in lieu
of March 16.
Theamendment coversprimary schools,
secondary schools, colleges, sixth-form
centres and the Institute of Brunei Technical
Education (IBTE) under the jurisdiction of
the MoE; schools under the MoRA; private
schools; and international schools.
The second-term school session will
commence as scheduled. Any updates on
the situation will be announced through
oficial media channels and the MoE.
The MoE and the MoRA, in collaboration
with theMoH, aremonitoring developments
in the COVID19 case, while encouraging
the practice of good hygiene to minimise
the risk of infection.
For
information
and
updates,
contact the MoE’s COVID19 Operation
Centre at 2382396 during ofice hours.
First term school holiday
begins today amid COVID-19
James Kon
Brunei Darussalam has recorded ive more
presumptive cases of the highly contagious
COVID19 infection.
The new presumptive cases include a
61-year-old man and his 30-year-old son.
Both had been travelling together with
the 53-year-old man who was announced
as the country’s irst presumptive case
after testing positive in a preliminary test
for COVID19.
The other three include the irst patient’s
46-year-old wife and their two sons aged
12 and ive. The two children have special
needs and did not attend school in the last
few weeks.
The ive patients are reported to be
exhibiting symptoms of coughing and lu.
They are in stable condition, with no signs of
fever and do not require breathing support.
All of the samples from these cases have
been sent to the World Health Organization
(WHO) Reference Laboratory in Singapore for
further testing. These latest developments
were announced by Minister of Health Dato
Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohammad Isham bin Jaafar,
in a press conference held yesterday evening
at the Ministry of Health’s (MoH) Al-A’iah Hall.
The minister said, “The 53-year-old local
man is a pensioner who travelled to Kuala
Lumpur with three friends on February 27 to
attend a
Tabligh
(religious event) at the Jamek
Sri Petaling Mosque which was also attended
by around 100 people fromThailand, Malaysia
and Indonesia. He then lew from Kuala Lum-
pur to Miri via Air Asia AK5651, and returned
to Brunei Darussalam on March 3. The man
then went on a day trip to Miri, and stopped
at the Kampong Sungai Teraban Mosque for
the Friday prayers.
COVID-19: Five found
positive in preliminary tests
Samples sent to Singapore for further testing.