People who have tested positive to COVID-19 and sent home to self-isolate are refusing to get tested for the second time, says health officials in Western Highlands Province.
Mt Hagen General Hospital’s CEO Jane Holden revealed that those who were tested positive to COVID-19 and were asymptomatic at the time of testing, we sent home to self-isolate for 14-days. When the hospital tried to follow up on their condition, they turned their phones off making it difficult for health staff to contact them.
Hospital CEO, Jane Holden says the health staff are unable to do contact tracing or know if the patients have recovered because the hospital does not have the capacity to visit patients, or and the patients are reluctant to answer phone calls.
This has posed threat to an increase in community transmission of the virus.
The PHA staff have recently requested to be vaccinated as more front-line health workers were infected with COVID-19.
As of 19th April 2021, Western Highlands Province has recorded a total of 710 positive Covid-19 cases.
Among them are 87 front-line health workers who have contracted the virus from community transmission as well as from the patients.
There are 14-recorded Covid-19 related deaths so far.
