Wednesday 9 September 2020
Papua New Guinea reported one new case of COVID-19 today, increasing its total positive confirmed cases to 504.
The new case comes from Western Province which now has a total of 185 confirmed cases. Majority of the cases are employees of Ok Tedi Mining Ltd.
Controller of the National Pandemic Response Mr David Manning has reiterated his call for more testing to be done throughout the country.
“Our daily tracking of provinces shows that today we had only 14 provinces sending samples.
“We need to have all provinces to send samples to be able to know what is happening in the country. Some provinces have sent less than 10 samples since the outbreak started in March and this is very low,” Mr Manning said.
To date, cases have been reported from 13 provinces in the country: NCD (293); Western Province (185); Central (7); Morobe (5); East Sepik (3); East New Britain (2); West New Britain (2); Milne Bay (2); and one case each from Southern Highlands, Eastern Highlands, West Sepik, New Ireland and Autonomous Region of Bougainville.
So far, the majority of the cases are mild and moderate. PNG has five known deaths related to COVID-19.
Globally, the total confirmed cases are now 27,696,060 and the death toll stands at 900,328. There was an increase of 215,007 confirmed cases in the last 24 hours.
In the Western Pacific region, a total of 15 countries/territories had confirmed cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total confirmed cases for the region to 522,080.
“The monitoring of people coming into PNG at the points of entry is ongoing. Travellers are quarantined for 14 days before integrating into the communities, as per the protocol.”
Mr Manning further appealed to citizens and residents not to be complacent but continue to wear masks while out in public; limit social gatherings; and wash hands frequently with soap and water.
“Remember to maintain physical distance by 1.5 metres in shops, banks, markets and other public places.
“Your health and that of your family is your responsibility so please take ownership, take heed of the COVID-19 protocols and protect yourself and your family,’’ Mr Manning said.
Media contact: Chief Superintendent Dominic D. Kakas, BEM, DPS
COVID-19 Media & Public Information Joint Agency Task Force
Mobile: 75430557 : Email: ddkakas@gmail.com