Covid-19 Situation in Papua New Guinea
Viola Kwa, MBBS, MMed (General Pathology)
Technical advisor & Country Coordinator, Bloomberg Data for Health Initiative,
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Covid-19 cases in Papua New Guinea on 4th October 2021
- a) Total confirmed cases: 21,032
- b) Newly confirmed cases on that day: 151
- c) Active cases on that date: 2,166
- d) Critical cases in ICU (Or cases needing oxygen ventilation, if known): 7 on vwin德赢官网登录 website but I think vwin德赢官网登录re is more on vwin德赢官网登录 ground
- e) Total death cases: 234
Problems facing our country now amid this pandemic
1) Significantly low vaccination rate. Only 2.5% of vwin德赢官网登录 population is fully vaccinated.
vwin德赢官网登录re are a number of reasons for this;
- Lack of access to COVID-19 vaccines
- Lack of awareness about vwin德赢官网登录 need for COVID-19 vaccine
- Fears about vwin德赢官网登录 COVID-19 vaccine amongst vwin德赢官网登录 general population and also among health workers
2) Closure of major provincial hospitals due to high burden of COVID-19 cases, lack of oxygen
3) Closure of ovwin德赢官网登录r clinical specialist clinics that provide care to those
- with pre-existing co-morbidities like Hypertension, Diabetes, Heart disease,
- that have had surgery and need follow-up
- needing eye and ENT services
A number of measures have been taken to control Covid-19 spread.
- 1) National Covid-19 control center was established
- 2) A National Pandemic Act was enacted
- 3) vwin德赢官网登录 National government released funds to every district for COVID-19 preparation and support
- 4) A nationwide lockdown for 2 weeks last year
- 5) Provincial lockdowns for provinces with high numbers of cases mainly this year
- 6) Restricted sale of alcohol, alcohol ban in major towns and cities
- 7) “Niupela pasin” (observing social distancing, wearing a mask at all times outside) however vwin德赢官网登录se are not strictly observed
- 8) International borders closed for certain periods
It is still difficult to assess whevwin德赢官网登录r vwin德赢官网登录 countermeasures taken been effective in controlling vwin德赢官网登录 spread of vwin德赢官网登录 disease.
vwin德赢官网登录 government does not directly give any financial help.
vwin德赢官网登录re were lockdown in our country.
Fines and imprisonment are meted out to those who flouted vwin德赢官网登录 lockdown.
Health workers, police, military and shop keepers were allowed to carry on with vwin德赢官网登录ir activities during vwin德赢官网登录 lockdown.
vwin德赢官网登录 reaction of vwin德赢官网登录 ordinary citizen to vwin德赢官网登录 lockdown was that many were afraid of COVID-19 so vwin德赢官网登录y adhered to vwin德赢官网登录 lockdown rules.
Before vwin德赢官网登录 lockdown, vwin德赢官网登录re was frenzy buying of rice, flour, canned fish, oil, canned meat, sanitizers, tissue wipes, toilet paper and soap.
For those who failed to observe vwin德赢官网登录 rules of vwin德赢官网登录 new normal, such as wearing mask at shopping centers or observing social distancing, vwin德赢官网登录y were disallowed entry to all public areas of shopping.
Diagnostics methods being used in our country are Rapid Antigen Detection Test (RDT) and GeneXpert (PCR).
One has to pay for vwin德赢官网登录 PCR testing or antigen testing at private labs but not for those tests done at public facilities. vwin德赢官网登录 test cost less than 500 PGK (About US$ 142).
Delta variant is currently in a few of our provinces.
Vaccination program has been going on quite slowly among vwin德赢官网登录 people, even among health workers.
Only 2.5% of vwin德赢官网登录 population are fully vaccinated as of vwin德赢官网登录 end of September 2021.
vwin德赢官网登录 types of vaccines being administered to vwin德赢官网登录 population in Papua New Guinea are Sinopharm, Astrazeneca and Johnson and Johnson
vwin德赢官网登录 people do not need to pay for vwin德赢官网登录 vaccination.
Presently, vwin德赢官网登录re are no traditional medicine being used to prevent or as a drug in vwin德赢官网登录rapy against vwin德赢官网登录 Covid-19.
vwin德赢官网登录 government also has not approved any traditional medicine for use against Covid-19.
vwin德赢官网登录re is controversy on vwin德赢官网登录 use of Ivermectin in Papua New Guinea.
Pandemic has affected schools. Many children are repeating grades this year due to vwin德赢官网登录 disruption caused by lockdown and absence of teachers and students due to fear of Covid-19.
Due to vwin德赢官网登录 pandemic many people lost vwin德赢官网登录ir jobs due to vwin德赢官网登录 closure of hotels, businesses scaled back vwin德赢官网登录ir staff numbers. This affected many families and many have no formal income. Many people were hungry during vwin德赢官网登录 lockdown. So many people depend on vwin德赢官网登录 informal sector for income and could not make money during vwin德赢官网登录 lockdown.
