Monday 21 February 2022
PAPUA New Guinea has now confirmed a total of 39, 909 cases of COVID-19 of which 14 are of the Omicron variant and 733 are of the Delta variant.
This is from the last two COVID-19 updates – Thursday, 17February and Friday, 18February 2022.
On Thursday, a total of 13 new cases of Omicron were reported from the samples sent to Australia, raising the total number of this new variant of COVID-19 to 14 so far.
Deputy Controller of the National Pandemic Response, Dr Esorom Daoni said the 13 new cases of Omicron were among 333 new cases of COVID-19 reported on this day.
The new Omicron cases were reported from four provinces, namely National Capital District which reported (eight), Eastern Highlands (one); Central (three); and New Ireland (two).
Dr Daoni added, there were also 25 new cases of Delta Variant reported, raising the number of confirmed cases to 733. The new Delta cases were recorded in Manus (12) and Gulf (three).
Of the 333 new cases of COVID, NCD reported the majority which was 119; followed by Southern Highlands (91); Central (39); Northern (22); Jiwaka (19); Hela (15); Manus (7); Western (5); Morobe (5); West Sepik (5); Western Highlands (2); Eastern Highlands (2); East New Britain (1); and Milne Bay (1).
From the 333 cases reported on this day, 2 percent were reported within the last 24 hours; 36 per cent in the last six days; 28 percent were reported more than two weeks ago; while 34 percent were from a month ago.
As of 12pm, Friday, 18th February, 2021, there were 329 new cases of COVID-19 reported which has raised the country’s cumulative total confirmed cases to 39, 909., while the recovered cases stand at 37, 706.
There were also eight new deaths reported which raised the total deaths in the country to 636. The cumulative Delta cases remained at 733 and the cumulative Omicron cases remained at 14.
Meanwhile, an internal assessment has now placed Milne Bay Province with NCD as the most high-risk provinces.
The two provinces have been reporting high number of cases in the past few weeks.
East New Britain, which, has been in red or high risk for sometime is now in green. New Ireland Province which has been in amber (medium risk) is now in green. Autonomous Region of Bougainville is still in amber. A number of provinces that were in green are now in medium risk, including Western, Central, Morobe, Eastern Highlands, Hela, Enga and West Sepik.
Dr Daoni has urged everyone to adhere to the COVID-19 protocols to prevent the number of cases increasing which can lead to over-crowding of health facilities.
“Currently, many health facilities in the country are complaining of shortage of medical supplies. Let’s not put more pressure in the health system by adhering to the Niupela Pasin; wear a mask in public; cover you cough or cough into your elbow; sanitize or wash your hands with soap often; avoid crowds and physical distance when in public.
“The saying, Prevention is Better than Cure, remains our best bet against COVID-19 and many other infectious diseases.’’