Brunei has reported two coronavirus deaths, the first fatalities from Covid-19 in the Southeast Asian nation in over a year as it battles a fresh outbreak.

An 85-year-old woman and a 69-year-old man, both Bruneians, died after contracting lung infections following their admission to a quarantine centre this month, the health ministry said.

It brings the total virus deaths in the sultanate on Borneo island to five since the start of the pandemic, according to an AFP report.

The country, home to about 450,000 people, reported its last Covid-19 death in June last year.