Friday 21  August 2020

PAPUA New Guinea has reported one more case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the last 24 hours ending 12pm Friday 21  August 2020, bringing its total confirmed cases to 398.

The new case is from the National Capital District and was detected at the Port Moresby General Hospital.

The case is a 39-year-old male who lives at 9-Mile in Port Moresby. At time of testing, he had fever, cough and muscle aches.

When announcing the new case Controller of the National Pandemic Response Mr David Manning said the number of cases in NCD are continuing to rise and urged every resident in NCD to adhere to the health protocols against COVID-19.

“The number of cases in NCD is now 254. This is a big increase and unless people adhere to the health measures in place, we are likely to see a continuing rise in cases in COVID-19,’’ he said.

Mr Manning  is concerned that there are  a lot of   people walking around in public places without wearing masks who are likely to pass the infection when they have it.

“At this stage there is community transmission happening in the country.

“Do not think that only those with comorbidities will have COVID-19. We have young energetic people getting COVID-19.

“Although the majority of the cases are mild and moderate, there are cases that are serious. Also, not everyone gets well quickly. Some take a while to get better because the virus leaves them feeling weak even after they have recovered.

“Furthermore, those who lost loved ones to COVID-19 will tell you that it is a very sad experience to lose a loved one to COVID-19 because they died away from their loved ones,” Mr Manning said.

Papua New Guinea has so far tested a total of 14,676 people for COVID-19, of which 13,522 have tested negative and 398 have tested positive. The death toll remains at four.

Recoveries stand at 232 and active cases at 162. The number of tests pending laboratory results is 671.

The update at NCD shows that the Rita Flynn isolation facility has currently 4 cases – 3 mild and 1 moderate. Five people were also discharged from the facility.

At PMGH, there are six cases admitted out of which 3 are mild and 3 moderate.

Globally, a total of 23,096,657 confirmed cases have been reported and 802,318 deaths.

This is an increase of 22,723,902 million confirmed cases and 786,087 deaths in five months.

In the past 24 hours, there was an increase of 246,494 confirmed cases around the globe.

Papua New Guinea’s closest neighbour, Indonesia, reported 2,197 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, bringing its total confirmed cases to 149,408. Eighty-two more people have died of the disease in the past 24 hours, bringing its death toll to 6,500.

The border with Indonesia remains a big threat to PNG. Its provinces, Papua and West Papua, have both reported 17 new cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total confirmed cases for the two provinces to 4,177. The death toll for the two provinces remains at 49.

Among the Pacific Island countries, French Polynesia reported its highest number of cases at 87 in one single day, bringing its total confirmed cases to 298. Guam reported 63 new cases, bringing its total confirmed cases to 767.

The other countries in the Western Pacific region that reported new cases in the past 24 hours include Australia which reported 171 new cases bringing its total confirmed cases to 24,407 and 9 deaths, bringing its death toll to 472.

The Philippines reported 4,786 new cases, bringing its total confirmed cases to 182,365 and 59 new deaths, bringing its death toll to 2,940. Singapore reported 117 new cases, bringing its total confirmed cases to 56,216 cases. Its death toll remains at 27.