PNG’s COVID-19 Death Toll to 69

News

One new COVID-19 death was reported in the last 24 hours ending 12 midday on Sunday April 11, increasing the death toll   to 69.

The  60 year old male  was detected  of Covid-19  in Jiwaka  but died  in the Western Highlands province on  April 11, increasing  the number of deaths  for Jiwaka,   to two. Meanwhile, the Controller of the National Pandemic, David Manning also confirmed 192 new cases on Sunday, increasing the total number of cases in the country to 8,602.

“The surveillance team is constantly reviewing and revising case numbers. As such, numbers may be amended from time to time to ensure accuracy,” he says. There were  12 provinces  which recorded new COVID-19 cases:  the National Capital District, (42); Western Highlands Province, (76); Western Province, (23); Morobe, (22); West New Britain Province, (14); Central,(4); Jiwaka, (4);  Southern Highlands, (3); Simbu, (1)  Madang, (1);  Hela, (1);  and Eastern Highlands (1).

Details of  the new cases  from   respective provinces are as follows:

  • National Capital District: New cases: 42. Sex: 32 males, 10 females. Age range: 9-58 years. Symptomatic: 10. Asymptomatic: 31. Deaths: 52. Total cases: 3,516.
  • Western Highlands Province : New cases: 76. Sex: 42 males, 32 females, 2 not stated. Age range: 4 and 67. Symptomatic: 61. Asymptomatic: 15. Deaths: 2. Total cases:
  • Western Province: New cases: 23. Sex: 22 males, 1 female. Age range: 7 – 58.

Symptomatic: Nil. Asymptomatic: 23. Deaths: 2. Total cases: 2,244.

  • Morobe Province: New cases: 22.Sex: 13 males, 9 females. Age range: 6 – 61. Symptomatic: 20. Asymptomatic: 2. Deaths: 3. Total cases:
  • West New Britain Province: New cases: 14. Sex: 14 males. Age range: 17 – 58. Symptomatic: 8. Asymptomatic: 6. Deaths: 2. Total cases: 237.
  • Central Province: New cases: 4. Sex: 1 male, 3 females. Age range: 25 – 46.
    Symptomatic: Nil. Asymptomatic: 4. Deaths: Nil. Total cases: 105.
  • Jiwaka Province: New cases: 4. Sex: 1 male, 3 females. Age range: 7-64.

Symptomatic: 4. Asymptomatic: Nil. Deaths: 2. Total cases: 52.

  • Southern Highlands: New cases: 3. Sex: 1 male, 2 females. Age range: 18-48. Symptomatic: 2. Asymptomatic: 1. Deaths: Nil. Total cases:
  • Simbu: New cases: 1. Sex: 1 male. Age: 48. Symptomatic: Yes. Asymptomatic: Nil. Deaths: 2. Total cases:
  • Madang: New cases: 1. Sex: 1 male. Age: 38. Symptomatic: Yes. Asymptomatic: Nil. Deaths: Nil. Total cases: 87.
  • Hela Province :New cases: 1. Sex: 1 male. Age: 47. Symptomatic: Nil.

Asymptomatic: Yes. Deaths: Nil. Total cases: 26.

  • Eastern Highlands Province: New cases: 1.Sex: 1 male. Age: 29 Symptomatic: Nil. Asymptomatic: Yes. Deaths: Nil. Total cases:

The  following  ten provinces have  also confirmed  Covid-19  cases and deaths.

  • Autonomous Region of Bougainville : Total cases:
  • East Sepik: 84. (Deaths: 2).
  • Enga Province: 68 (Deaths 1)
  • West Sepik Province: 356 (Deaths 3)
  • East New Britain Province: 317
  • Milne Bay Province: 14
  • New Ireland: 89 (Deaths 2)
  • Gulf : 13
  • Northern: 3

Globally, the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 is 135,994,39 including 747,219 new cases reported in the last 24 hours. The global death toll is 2,939,078 of which 11,312 were reported in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Police Commissioner and Controller of the PNG COVID-19 National Pandemic Response said the National Control Centre (NCC) is aware that there is a huge interest from the public about the number of active COVID-19 cases and the number of people who had COVID-19 and recovered.

He said active and recovered cases are not currently reported by the NCC because these data are not available at the national level. Each Provincial Health Authority (PHA) is responsible for monitoring and reporting data on cases identified in their respective province.

“In order to determine if an individual diagnosed with COVID-19 is still considered an ‘active’ case or ‘recovered’, their clinical status and the time that has passed since they tested positive for COVID-19 needs to be monitored and reported to the NCC daily,” Mr Manning said.

The length of time a case is considered to be ‘active’ (that is, infectious and capable of transmitting the virus) and the length of time a case needs to be isolated, varies from person to person. Asymptomatic cases that never develop symptoms are considered active for ten days from the date their positive swabs were taken. Symptomatic cases are considered active for ten days after the date of onset of their symptoms, and they must be symptom free for at least three consecutive days prior to release from isolation.

Mr Manning said a recovered case is someone who has completed their isolation period and is deemed to have clinically recovered from COVID-19. A positive case does not need to be re-tested (using either RT-PCR or GeneXpert) after completing their isolation period. People may shed virus for over three months after acquiring COVID-19, but are no longer considered infectious after completing their isolation period, as explained. Thus, re-testing after the isolation period is not recommended.

Mr Manning further said that in order to track active and recovered cases in PNG it is necessary for each PHA to monitor all positive cases in their province for the periods of time mentioned above and regularly share the information about the clinical status of their isolated cases with the NCC.

Media contact: Chief Superintendent Dominic D. Kakas, BEM, DPS

COVID-19 Media & Public Information Joint Agency Task Force

Mobile: 75430557 email: ddkakas@gmail.com
Police email:                    ddkakas.policemedia@gmail.com
COVID-19 JATF email:    ddkakas.covid19media@gmail.com

 

 

Please share