Newcrest Mining Lihir is continuing to partner with state agencies, provincial and local governments to provide COVID-19 awareness to the people.
They have joined hands with the Nimamar Local Level Government, New Ireland Provincial Health Authority (NIPHA), National Control Centre (NCC) and the Department of Health (NDOH).
A combined medical team from the NCC for COVID-19 from Port Moresby and NIPHA were in Lihir recently to conduct advocacy and awareness about the COVID vaccines.
The four-member team from the NCC led by Dr Petronia Kaima and team from NIPHA, led by Dr Frank Apamumu, spent 10 days in Lihir meeting with company employees of Newcrest and visiting communities to give talks and answer questions raised about COVID-19 and the vaccines.
This followed on from an earlier visit by a delegation led by Deputy Pandemic Controller, Dr Esorom Daoni.
“The fight against COVID-19 is everybody’s fight – we are all in this together. We are happy and will continue to support and work with all the levels of government to continue to get the message out about COVID-19 and the vaccine,” said Johan Labuschagne, General Manager Newcrest Mine Lihir.
Dr Apamumu and Patterson Marengas from NIPHA summarised the activities of the visit and messages shared on Newcrest Lihir’s 91.5FM.
“We thank Newcrest for sponsoring this visit to Lihir and liaising with their departments and the community so we can share this important information. We know the COVID virus is in New Ireland and on Lihir. We are encouraging people to get vaccinated,” Marengas said.
He said due to bad weather, the team could not travel to the outer Lihir islands for awareness, but were able to cover most of the Newcrest workforce and some of the villages - Putput 2 and Londolovit on Aniolam Island.
“We hope to come back and cover the outer islands, Mallie, Mahur and Masahet as they are also part of Lihir. When people move, the virus moves and we have people moving in and out of Lihir all the time,” Marengas said.
Dr Apamumu said more than 50 people have been admitted to the COVID ward at the Kavieng Hospital.
“We have a new COVID ward in Kavieng that has been in use since 8th October, 2021 and so far, we have seen eight people die from COVID. None of them were vaccinated.
“That’s why we’re doing this awareness. We have to take care of ourselves. For New Ireland, the COVID vaccines are available at the Kavieng and Namatanai hospitals. For Lihir, it’s available at the Lihir Medial Centre,” he said.
Dr Apamumu said one of the main questions asked by the community was if the vaccine is safe.
“My job as a health worker is to give facts and educate about the virus and the vaccine. The vaccine is safe. More than 2800 people in NIP have been vaccinated. Out of these, none had any major side effects and no one has died from taking the vaccine.”