Dearest friends from all parts of the world, I hope that you and your families are well, coping with the current pandemic that is affecting our globe today. I must apologize for being quiet in the scene as it has been quite difficult on my part - trying to do the best that I can in volunteer work to help save the lives of many in my country with very little I can do. But no matter how small the contributions are, the impact is still as powerful.
I’ve been getting a lot of texts (personally) from many of you and again, I must apologize for not answering them. I needed some time to think things through and process on what has been going on in our country in such a short amount of time. This post will be my response to your curiosities and I hope that you will find it in your hearts to forgive me for such delay.
Brunei is a small nation and the chances of getting the citizens affected by corona could possibly be slim. However, we are also travelers by nature, as part of our key survival, especially in education since more than a thousand local students receive scholarships by the government to study overseas each year.
The first case of covid-19 in Brunei came from travelers from Malaysia who have just gotten back and since then, the number increased day by day and although the number has yet to receive 3 digits, the country is small so it’s still a worrisome number to us. Just 4 days ago, we have reached our first 3 digits for those infected, which was 104 people while 2 have recovered since. And I am extremely devastated to announce our first death from covid-19 happened yesterday, which was a 64 year old man, and this was announced by the minister of Health, himself in an emergency press conference at 8.30am local time, today.
So what are the efforts made to keep the people safe? Here are some of the things that I’m currently aware of (though there might be more things that’s been done that I don’t know about) but the main thing is that we are extremely blessed and grateful to have such caring ruler who would do whatever it takes to keep the people safe. I can’t count the many tears I’ve cried every single day, feeling truly blessed to have been born in this country of mine.
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All citizens are ordered by the government to practice social-distancing
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school holidays for kindergarten, elementary, high schools, religious schools, vocational schools and sixth forms are commenced earlier than scheduled and will resume with ONLINE LEARNING ONLY on the 30th March
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all classes for college and universities are to be done exclusively online now except for practicals (which is to be done with caution)
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Major Cambridge exams (Olevels, AS levels, A levels) are now cancelled.
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Ministry of Education is working with the Ministry of Foreign affairs and trade to get all Bruneian scholarship students (more than 2000 of them) BACK TO BRUNEI (mainly from UK, Australia, Malaysia and Egypt) with a direct flight, all expenses paid.
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These students will then undergo a quarantine for two weeks in their respective accommodations (hotels, apartments, etc.) in which they will be transported to by bus with all expenses paid which includes 3 meals per day at specific times. (ranked 4 to 5 star hotels)
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Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sports are opening up for volunteers from all across Brunei to help with cooking the food for the quarantined people, distributing the food, become a part of the frontliners, keeping the places sanitized, etc.
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The hospital is opening up blood donations as we are running low on them
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Ministry of Health is opening up donations through online-banking to help with those infected with covid-19 and just within two days we’ve made $300,000 BND and then it turned to more than $1 million the next day.
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Government launched an app to Bruneians to provide us with information on the current covid19 outbreak in Brunei and global as well as an online assessment tool where we can alert the health authorities if we were to have symptoms (http://healthinfo.gov.bn)
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Travel Ban - No more flights flying in or out of Brunei until further notice (except for the ones getting the Bruneian students back)
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Government has made arrangements for pensions and welfare assistance to be paid directly into bank accounts instead of villlage heads.
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As of March 18th, all sport complexes and gyms, museums, bowling alleys, movie theaters, amusement parks will be closed.
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As of March 16th, all places of worship will be closed temporarily to the public (except for those on duty)
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On March 17th, Brunei open it’s Temburong bridge, which is a bridge that links a separate district to the other parts of Brunei. It is now open from 6 am to 6pm daily.
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The Ministry of Finance and Economy are currently working on trying to ease the burden for local SMEs that are affected financially due to the outbreak
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The government is currently working on getting internet (and faster ones) accessible to everyone, especially for those who are unable to afford such privilege.
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All restaurants are now providing delivery, takeaway and drive-through ONLY no more dine-ins
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A new isolation center will be built in Tutong district which will finish within 2 weeks.
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All big wedding ceremonies are now banned, until further notice. Wedding ceremonies can only happen with a maximum of 10 people present (including the bride and the groom).
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New law - anyone caught disobeying instructions by the Ministry of Health (such as ignoring the social distancing order) will be fined $10,000BND and 6 months of imprisonment.
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Press Conference on Covid-19 updates by the government is done live everyday at tv/radio/online at 5pm local time since 16th March.
So far, that is all that I know of. And again, you can see now why I am truly grateful for our ruler and government for the many things they have done for us. It is A LOT to take in, but truly, we are being taken care of.
My prayers goes to all of you who are reading this right now. Stay safe, everyone!