Coronavirus

Making the announcement on his Facebook page yesterday, Marape said: “For those of us employed, I am initiating a PM’s ‘Helpim Wantok’ charity for this effort so please join me if you can afford.

“I am directing half my salary and allowances into that account to help those who are in need in these trying times,” he stated.

“I will start by buying food from farmers and growers in Central Province and those in Morobe for Port Moresby and Lae cities as first urban areas to assist and help.

Take ownership of your own health, refrain from moving around unnecessarily.

When announcing the five new cases in the country, Prime Minister James Marape stressed on the need to follow instructions, especially when it comes to limiting movement as it is people who move the virus around.

Marape said these test results were from the PNG Institute of Medical Research in Goroka, where he personally verified the information with the institute’s director, Professor William Pomat.

“Three are from Western Province, they are established as traditional border crossers,” the PM said in a media briefing at Manasupe Haus.

“Ol sa muv go kam lo said blo yumi lo Papua Niu Gini go long West Papua.”

Those border crosses infected include a 12-year-old boy, a 30-year-old man and an adult female whose age is yet to be established.

The person has since been isolated and quarantined. Contact tracing has begun, including places visited and persons contacted.

“The person is well at this moment. But as a best practice health and safety response, we have locked down the Joint Agency Task Force National Operations Centre to carry out testing of all our staff,” Manning said in a statement released just now.

“I call upon the people of NCD, Central and PNG to remain calm. We have identified a positive case. All measures are now being taken to trace all persons who have come into contact with this person.

In partnership with the National Department of Health, Australia will deliver ten containerised health facilities to boost PNG’s health infrastructure capacity.

These facilities can be deployed to existing health centres and hospitals and used for support services, including triage and referral, treatment of non-infectious diseases, injuries and prenatal and postnatal care. This will help free up space elsewhere in existing health facilities to treat identified and suspected COVID-19 patients.

Over a hundred people living at Erima Wildlife came together to witness the opening of the market facility yesterday.

Parkop refused to open the facility, saying the large crowd of people was a breach of the social distancing regulations under the COVID-19 State of Emergency.

“So gavman wokim disishen, em i no isi long mipla. Mipla tokim yupla long noken maket, em ino isi long mipla. Mipla tok long social distancing ya, ino isi long mipla.

“Now polis em bai arestim yumi olgeta.”

The provincial police commander has reported a general adherence to protocol by residents.

East New Britain provincial police commander, Joseph Tabali, said a majority of residents are following the preventive measures that have been put in place, including the setting up of roadblocks at strategic locations and the 8pm to 7am curfew.

PPC Tabali however, is discouraging locals from setting up roadblocks along the main roads. They are only allowed to block entry points leading into their respective wards.

While Papua New Guinea has a very low number of cases, the world is still battling this deadly virus.

Prime Minister James Marape stressed that COVID-19 should not be taken lightly, urging Papua New Guineans to always keep their guard up.

“Koronavaires em grow yet lo displa graun,” stated the PM. “Ova 1.9 milien manmeri long displa graun i gat displa sik korona. Em i kilim pinis 119,588 manmeri long displa graun. Klostu lo ples blo yumi o insait lo rijen blo yumi, 121,426pla man o meri i gat sik korona.”

The Acting Deputy Police Commissioner and State of Emergency Operations Commander, Donald Yamasombi, says the National Police Internal Affairs hotline number is 320 2364.

Commander Yamasombi established this toll-free number following numerous concerns raised by the public over the continuous police misconduct and harassment at the various police roadblocks and checkpoints over the last three weeks of the SOE.

He stressed that a mix of social distancing, testing, contact tracing and isolation, will be crucial to further curb the spread of the new coronavirus already devastating much of the globe. 

“We’re all learning all the time and adjusting our strategy, based on the latest available evidence”, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, summarising the guidance which will be available in full on the agency’s website on Tuesday.