Minister for Health, HIV & Aids, Jelta Wong, has said in a statement freshly released that we have a probable imported case of Coronavirus or COVID-19 in Papua New Guinea.
“The case is a 45 year old male who arrived in Port Moresby on the 13th March 2020. Through checks at the airport the case did not show any symptoms of cough flu or fever. Exactly 24hours after arriving in country he presented with a flu and slight fever and thus fitted the case definition of a COVID-19 person of interest.”
“Immediate Emergency Response Plan procedures were activated and he was isolated and placed under strict quarantine, with test results sent to the Institute of Medical Research for testing.”
“The case travel history originated from Madrid, Barcelona, Istanbul, and entered PNG borders through Singapore. He then travelled from Port Moresby to Lae.”
“In line with Emergency Response Plan – contact tracing commenced, and closed contacts were quarantined. None of the people who came into contact with the case at the time of illness are showing signs of COVID-19. NDOH has initiated contact tracing on all passengers who may have come into contact with the case.”
“Importantly per the National Gazette No G169 of 16th March, the European Union was added to the list of countries on our restricted list. Those countries are People’s Republic of China, Republic of Korea, Iran, The European Union, United Kingdom and the United States of America.”
Statemen attached Below:
