By EMTV News
Papua New Guinea’s Pandemic Controller David Manning has issued nine new control measures as the country’s cases have increased to 31.
He said there was a high likelihood of expanded community transmission and while there were no new cases in the provinces since April, it was known that testing had been limited.
This was in spite of an enhanced testing strategy and due to the reluctance of people undergoing tests.
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Manning said the situation was worrying and was a grave concern to the government. He strongly urged citizens to continue to observe cov-19 health and medical protocols.
He said the covid-19 technical advisory team was still in discussions and taking into account all factors before recommending other measures to counter the increasing numbers of cases.
He added that the priority now was to accelerate the readiness of functioning quarantine and isolation facilities in all provinces.
The nine new measures issued by the controller include action over the following:
- Revocation of all previous measures;
- International travel;
- Domestic travel;
- Provincial coordination;
- Burial of deceased persons;
- Customs duties;
- Covid-19 testing;
- Covid-19 surveillance and testing; and
- Business and social.
High among the priorities are the increased testing of citizens and tracing of contacts by medical and health teams and the involvement of police and the Defence Force to ensure the implementation of measures.
Manning said the measures issued were done with the best intentions.
They were intended to prevent the spread of covid-19 while causing minimum disruption to the livelihood of people and businesses.
