COVID-19

The Friends and The Morning Show star said in an InStyle magazine interview published this week that there was still a "large group of people who are anti-vaxxers or just don't listen to the facts".

She added that she had, unfortunately, "lost a few people" from her weekly routine who would not disclose if they had been vaccinated.

One of those people travelling from Moscow had the Delta variant of COVID-19. After they left the plane, staff from the Nanjing Lukou airport swooped in to pick up their rubbish.

According to Chinese officials, when those cleaners exited the aircraft they brought the virus along with them to the outside world - sparking what has now become China's widest outbreak since Wuhan.

In the last few weeks, at the height of the summer travel season, Delta has been detected in at least 16 Chinese provinces and municipalities. Most cases are linked to Nanjing.

It was determined this weekend’s Intrust Super Cup (Round 16) and Hastings Deering Colts (Round 13) fixtures will be postponed.

While the QRL will “explore all options” to ensure as many games are played as possible, the league is waiting on further information before making a final determination on whether the fixtures originally set down for this weekend will be rescheduled.  

This outcome follows the decision to cancel all of last weekend’s Round 15 Intrust Super Cup and Round 12 Hastings Deering fixtures due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Queensland.

The 15 Pacific Trade Invest (PTI) Pacific Business Monitor reports that sentiments among the Pacific business decision-makers remain critical and expected timelines for economic recovery are shifting back.

The recent July survey reinforced this ongoing severity with 84 per cent of respondents reporting a negative impact

Of Pacific respondents 33 per cent were from the tourism industry, 21 per cent were from the agricultural, forestry and fishing industry and 10 per cent were from the manufacturing industry.

It is being assisted by Gerard Saleau, a research officer with the PNG Institute of Medical Research (IMR).

After having difficulty convincing people to come forward to take the vaccination, Public Health Director, Dr. Max Manape considers this as a breakthrough in carrying out the Covid-19 Astra Zenecca vaccination in the province.

On Tuesday 29^th June the Covid-19 response team responded to the call by the CIC Research Institute at Aiyura to go and administer vaccine doses to staff and the coffee growers within the surrounding community.

When the Eastern Highlands province experienced a sudden increase in COVID-19 cases early this year, hospital authorities were faced with insufficient supply of oxygen.

The Provincial Director for Public Health, Dr. Max Manape said when the province reported over 30 positive cases the patients with severe conditions were admitted with the hospital lacking oxygen cylinders.

“Severe cases of COVID-19 required oxygen as a major treatment but all at the same time presented difficulty,” he said.

The routine immunization program is affected due to misinformation and myths about COVID-19 vaccination.

EHP Director for Public Health, Dr. Max Manape said when people hear about COVID-19 vaccination they think it has many side effects because of the conspiracy theory on social media. 

He said therefore routine immunization on polio, measles or pentavalent for all other diseases is affected and the coverage in the province was going down.

Dr Manape said from that perspective they have realized that its lack of understanding among the community.

Manning made this comment following criticisms on the new measures on international and domestic travel.

“There will be no mandatory vaccination nor situations created to force people to get the COVID-19 vaccine. This will always remain a personal choice for every Papua New Guinean and we respect that,” he stated.

The NRL announced on Wednesday that the club had failed to immediately notify its playing squad and football staff of additional restrictions that were placed on Sydney based NRL clubs on June 17.

It also alleges when the club communicated the changes the following day, "it failed to effectively communicate the restrictions to ensure players and officials understood exactly the obligations placed on them".

Since February, PNG has seen a sharp escalation of COVID-19 cases and reported deaths due to widespread community transmission.

This rapid increase in COVID-19 cases has put significant pressure on an already-stretched health system.

World Bank Country Manager, Stefano Mocci said it is time to build a stronger and more resilient health system for all Papua New Guineans, particularly the most vulnerable.