papua new guinea

It takes the country's total confirmed cases of the virus to the verge of 600.

A 30-year-old man from Tari Pori District is the first reported case of the coronavirus in

Hela Province.

West New Britain also reported four new cases - three males and one female, all from Talasea District.

The national pandemic controller's office says all the new cases were symptomatic at the time of testing.

Rapid response teams are conducting case investigations and contact tracing.

To date, PNG has confirmed 597 cases and seven covid-related deaths.

At the conclusion of the OCO Heads Annual Conference on October 20, themed “Working together to build a safer Blue Pacific”, leaders of Customs administrations in the region stated the loss in revenue collection for their governments due to the closure of borders as their biggest cost of COVID-19.

However, in addition to generating revenue for their governments, Customs administrations are increasingly being presented with other challenges such as the rise of illicit drugs, contraband goods and having to crew quarantine centers.

To date, Papua New Guinea has 588 total confirmed COVID-19 cases. The National Capital District (NCD) has the highest number of cases with 342, followed by Western Province with 203. There are 14 provinces in the country that have reported cases.

“I remind all the provinces to continue and sustain your preparedness efforts. Use this opportunity to build your capacity and do not wait until a case is reported, ” Manning said. 

Four of them are from the Tabubil township in the Western Province and one case is from the National Capital District, all were men.

This brings the national total of Covid-19 cases to 516 with six deaths from the coronavirus recorded so far.

The majority of Papua New Guineans who have tested positive have displayed only mild to moderate symptoms of the virus.

The controller of the national pandemic response, David Manning has again repeated calls for residents to strictly adhere to Covid-19 regulations to prevent community transmission.

The countries include Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Cook Islands, and Niue.

Commenting on the delivery, Abdulla Al Subousi, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the UAE to Australia, said, "Today’s aid shipment to Pacific island countries reflects the UAE’s continued efforts to support and stand by these countries to contain the spread of COVID-19 by providing critical medical supplies and protection to strengthen the efforts of healthcare personnel."

The Walk Free report identifies cases of forced labour, commercial sexual exploitation of children, and forced marriage in the Pacific.

The report, Murky waters: A qualitative assessment of modern slavery in the Pacific region, said exploitation was fuelled by widespread poverty, migration, and the abuse of cultural practices.

James Marape's announcement takes the total number of cases confirmed in PNG so far to 27, over half of them having emerged in the past week.

Most of the new cases are health workers at Port Moresby General Hospital where all non-essential services have now been suspended.

This week, a terminally ill patient with advanced cancer who died at the hospital was found by a post-mortem examination to have had the coronavirus.

Earlier the government announced a cluster outbreak at the Central Public Health Laboratory on the hospital premises.

The magnitude seven quake struck at a depth of 85 kilometres near the border of Morobe and Oro provinces, off the north coast of New Guinea.

Nohoro Akai from the Oro disaster office said a full assessment of damage to buildings and infrastructure was still pending.

But an initial assessment showed that a number of landslides occurred.

"Actually we had a few landslides that covered much of the river systems, not all of them.

The economic strains caused by COVID-19 have prompted leaders of the five member countries of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and Vanuatu, to discuss a potential bubble. 

At a leaders' meeting last week in Port Vila, Acting Director of the Secretariat, George Hoa'au, said a Five Point Sustainability Plan was being developed to help ensure members are resilient to the challenges. 

But commentator Elisapeci Waqanivala said that the discussion isn't providing enough details for people to be aware of its real intention.

That non-binding vote registered 98 percent support for independence, with consultations between the two governments expected to run for a year from this September.

The Commission presented its final report to PNG Prime Minister James Marape in Port Moresby on Thursday.

The BRC chair, former Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern said "the peaceful vote signalled the end of just the latest step in the long-standing Bougainville-Papua New Guinea peace procoss."