Speaking after recording his address to the nation at Manasupe Haus today, the prime minister made a sober call to citizens to be educated on the virus and stay away from public gatherings and events.
He says more actions will be announced, with regards to students attending schools.
“Stay away from public gatherings. Our country must respond to the COVID-19. Don’t chew Buai and spit everywhere like rabbits.
Our nation has faced many similar viruses in the past. And our systems were never set up properly. Our protocols being set now with covid-19, Will stand to be in place for any new global virus outbreaks.”
In his address to the nation last week, Marape said, the world is facing a common enemy.
As of today, there are more than 132000 cases of COVID-19, however we have to continue to be on high alert as the risk of COVID- 19 entering Papua New Guinea just like the region and the world is very high.
The PNG Government since January has recognized this threat to our country and we have started our preparedness measures.
We have a team of dedicated health experts and professionals who are working around the clock to ensure we have measures in place to prevent, detect, manage and treat any case of COVID-19.
We have created a COVID-19 preparedness and response plan that outlines key measures from across different scenarios from alert phase, containment and mitigation.
It has detailed actions and requirements identified in every phase and a budget for those activities has already been approved by the NEC this week.
In the plan there are three (3) color codes to identify the phases
1. Alert color code (Green) – No cases of COVID- 19 in PNG
2. Containment color code (Orange) – confirmed case of COVID 19 in PNG
3. Mitigation color code (Red) – community spread of COVID 19 in PNG
We have continued to put in measures to prevent entry of the virus in to the country we have personnel at our points of entry who are screening inbound passengers. Our surveillance team conducts follow up checks of those travellers.
However even with these measures it would be wrong to assume that we will not get the virus, we continue to prepare for the worst case scenario and make our system ready to respond.
I would like to thank the department of Health, department of foreign affairs and international trade, immigration and citizenship authority, National Airports Corporation, Air Niugini, and the World Health Organization and other development partners for all your efforts so far.
While your efforts have been commendable, I urge all involved in our response, including government agencies, development partners and the general public to remain vigilant as we deal with the threat of this terrible, contagious illness.
I recommend that you continue to read verifiable information and inform yourself correctly.
A hotline 7196 0813 has also been established to address the immediate need for information or reporting and to answer questions people may have.
As the government continues to put in place measures, the PNG people have the role to play.
There are very simple things you can do and I want to remind you of these measures;
1. Wash your hands regularly with soap and water or clean hands with an alcohol-based hand rub
2. If you cough or sneeze, do it into your flexed elbow or use a tissue, dispose of the tissue immediately into a closed rubbish bin and then wash your hands
3. Clean your house, offices or stores, disinfect surfaces, tables or work desks
4. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth
5. If you feel unwell, stay at home and avoid crowded places, do not spread the disease to others
Together with WHO technical team, we as a government will continue to monitor the situation around the world and will take appropriate actions as necessary.
The health team’s continue to conduct risk assessments, any further updates will be released regularly to ensure citizens are kept abreast of the status of the coronavirus globally and in PNG
