8 ‘Delta’ deaths in PNG’s Western

 News that matter in Papua New Guinea

8 ‘Delta’ deaths in PNG’s Western

PORT MORESBY: Eight people died from the Coronavirus (Covid-19) in Western the past week and National Pandemic Response Deputy Controller Dr Daoni Esorom says it is “highly likely” to be Delta-variant-related.

The grim news come a week after an outbreak an outbreak of 22 cases of the highly infectious and deadly Delta cases were revealed in Western on Sept 1, 2021.

Delta was first reported in Western with 12 cases on Aug 18, 2021, and the infections shot up to 30 on Sept 1, 2021.

The news break updates were published by The National:

8 dead in Western

September 10, 2021The NationalMain Stories

 Daoni Esorom

By LULU MARK and JINA AMBA
EIGHT people died from the Coronavirus (Covid-19) in Western the past week and National Pandemic Response deputy controller Dr Daoni Esorom says it is “highly likely” to be Delta-variant-related.
The grim news comes a week after an outbreak of 22 cases of the highly infectious and deadly Delta cases were revealed in Western on Sept 1. Delta was first reported in Western with 12 cases on Aug 18 and the infections shot up to 30 on Sept 1.
While samples of the then 79 new Covid-19 cases have been sent to Australia for genome sequencing to determine if any of the infection was Delta and awaiting results, Western reported 14 new infections on Wednesday.
And the two hospitals in the province – Tabubil and Kiunga – are inundated with Covid-19 patients.
Esorom said: “The situation in Western is quite frightening and the cases will continue to go up. The hospitals are full with patients.”
Also, the border provinces of West Sepik and Western are experiencing a spike in Covid-19 cases with 30 new infections reported on Wednesday.
A total of 43 new cases were reported in Papua New Guinea (PNG) on Wednesday – West Sepik (20), Western (14), the National Capital District (five), East New Britain (two), Enga and Southern Highlands (one each).
Dr Esorom said to date 14 Covid-19 deaths were reported in the Ok Tedi Mine area of Tabubil in North Fly – six of the deaths were reported earlier and eight after the Delta surge.
He said samples of the recent tests were taken which would be sent for genome sequencing to confirm whether they were Delta cases.
“There is a high possibility of the cases being Delta because of the current surge and the behaviour of Delta variant which was affecting the younger population, a typical symptom,” he said.
“The Tabubil Hospital is full.
“The Kiunga Hospital was full last week (and) they are just recovering now. But, I am pretty sure the cases will go up.
“We had a consultation with the extractive industry this morning and I could not believe the statistics that the Ok Tedi general manager presented. It is quite frightening what is happening in Western and I am pretty sure it is going to be the same in West Sepik, the National Capital District and many other provinces that are not adhering to the public health protocol measures.
“A team is on the ground identifying the requirements of the Western Provincial Health Authority and Ok Tedi.”
Dr Esorom said a team from the National Control Centre (NCC) was in West Sepik and an emergency medical team would be leaving in two days for West Sepik which was also experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases which could also be related to the Delta variant.
Dr Esorom said the phylogenic analysis of cases have shown that the Delta cases from the NCD (from the Grand Tajima Ship), Western and Madang were all related to Delta from Indonesia’s West Papua.
“We can now confirm that our cases in Papua New Guinea came across the border,” he said.
“This is why we keep on saying that international 600-700km is supposed to be closed – yet our people from Western and East Sepik continue to cross the border and this is what we get.
“We are trying our best despite the challenges.
“There will come a time when we will not have the capacity – so the public health authorities must step up.
“Provinces should not depend on NCC alone but gather resources to have their response going.
“Currently, the five provinces having a surge in cases include Western, West Sepik, NCD, Eastern Highlands and Manus.”
Meanwhile, more than 70 education officers, who attended a week-long conference in Westen last week, returned to Port Moresby without being tested for the Covid-19.
Education Minister Jimmy Uguro, who went with the team, told The National that he flew out of the province before the announcement made by the Papua New Guinea National Pandemic Response Controller David Manning.
An officer from the Education Department said the team stayed for a week and returned to Port Moresby.
He said they were not tested but only had their temperature checked at the airport.
The officer said they were told that Manning would call them in for testing if needed.
The participants comprised provincial education advisers, representatives from key government departments and agencies, Office of Libraries and Archives, Teaching Service Commission, Education Departmentofficials, Church education agency representatives.
The conference was held in Kiunga’s New Century Hotel to discuss the implementation of the National Education Plan 2020-2029.
However, when the team was in Western, Manning said any traveler from Western must be tested negative for Covid-19 before they could leave the province.
Earlier, Manning said the tests had to be made mandatory after 22 Delta cases were confirmed in Western and that there was a high chance of a severe outbreak (or surge) of Delta in the province.
“New directives (control measures) will be out soon,” he said.
“The directives will be for those at border provinces to be tested, now that there is a surge of the Covid-19 cases there.”
The authorities believe the Delta attack in Western is due to border crossings to Indonesia (West Papua) and back to Papua New Guinea.
Currently, some of the officers who were in Western are now in Jiwaka for another programme.

Vaccination demand low

September 10, 2021The NationalMain Stories

By LULU MARK
THERE is a need to increase the demand for the Coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccination throughout Papua New Guinea as the uptake is very low, Dr Daoni Esorom says.
The National Pandemic Response deputy controller said PNG did not do well in phase one of the vaccination with 1,094 vials (close to 12,000 doses) of AstraZeneca expired and destroyed in July.
“Right now we have enough vaccines but the challenge remains in getting the people to get it,” he said.
“We have enough in stock, our challenge is to increase the demand.”
Dr Esorom said under the Covax-facility arrangement, countries were to send their request every month based on their need and so vaccines would still be available in PNG.
He said on Wednesday that 30,000 doses of AstraZeneca that would expire in two months were sent to Vietnam through the Covax.
“This is like a credit for us so 30,000 doses will be available to us when we need them.”
Dr Esorom said the responsibility for the rollout of the vaccine was transferred by the Health Department to the National Control Centre so a task force was established to review the national strategy on vaccination rollout.
“The challenge is venturing into the rural areas where the bulk of the population is illiterate.
“We have a big task to educate our people about the facts of Covid-19 and the benefits of the vaccination. He said vaccination would not prevent one from getting the Covid-19 but it would prevent severe effects and deaths and people should get it.
According to NCC incident manager Dr Melinda Susapu, as of Sunday 144,248 people were vaccinated of which 107,890 received only one dose and 36,353 received two doses (fully vaccinated).
She said the vaccines currently in country and available were the AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, and Johnson & Johnson.

Covid-19 cases increasing

September 10, 2021The NationalMain Stories

By LULU MARK
BORDER provinces of West Sepik and Western are experiencing a spike in Coronavirus (Covid-19) cases with more than 30 confirmed between them on Wednesday, an official says.
Covid-19 National Control Centre (NCC) incident manager Dr Melinda Susapu said 43 new cases were reported on that day with West Sepik reporting 20, Western 14, National Capital District 5, East New Britain 2 and Enga and Southern Highlands one each.
She said the total number of cases in PNG as of Wednesday was 18,339 of which 194 died, 351 cases were still active and 17,794 recovered.
Dr Susapu said so far the country reported 30 Delta variant cases of which Western recorded 22, National Capital District 7 and Madang 1 and the samples of 79 cases reported last week were still waiting the genome sequencing results.
She said another 83 samples were sent for genome sequencing on Monday.
NCC recorded a total of 18,091 cases on Sept 1 and seven days later 18,091, with that figure increasing to 18,339 on Wednesday – 248 cases in a week.
Dr Susapu said some provinces were not reporting on time and the testing was slow but the positive rate was slowly increasing.
She said it had been observed that an increase in influenza-like infections and acute respiratory infections resulted in the subsequent increase in the Covid-19 cases.
Covid-19 National Pandemic Response deputy controller Dr Daoni Esorom said to bring down the waiting time for the results of genome sequencing from Australia, the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research would be supported to do genome sequencing in-country by next month.
“The Delta variant is going to spread very fast,” he said.
“It won’t be long and people will be dying.
“Countries around the world although with high vaccination coverage were hit hard and for PNG the vaccination level is very low.
“People need to start listening.
“Stop crowded events, crossing the border and get the vaccine.”
Dr Daoni said the vaccine would not protect you from getting the Covid-19 and its Delta variant but it would prevent you from going to the hospital or dying.

Esorom says flights will be arranged to bring in essential workers

September 10, 2021The NationalNational

SPECIAL charter flight arrangements would be made to bring in essential workers to the country but all will undergo strict 21-day quarantine before going out into the community, an official says.
National Pandemic Response deputy controller Dr Daoni Esorom said yesterday the 111 people who arrived on the CapaJet-arranged Garuda Indonesia flight last month from India and Indonesia all tested negative for the Coronavirus (Covid-19) and were cleared after completing the 21-day quarantine yesterday.
He said those passengers were tested on day 1, 7, 14 and 20 and the same would apply to anyone who came into the country.
Dr Esorom said there was a charter that came in on Wednesday from Malaysia with 106 passengers who were essential workers approved to come into Papua New Guinea and were tested and quarantined in a hotel. “We need to make sure that we do this quarantine in a safe manner as per our guidelines and measures,”Dr Esorom said.
“We are in consultation with the business community and whatever essential skills our country needs or the business community requires we will schedule special charters (to bring them in).
“(This is) to make sure that skills we require in PNG (are here) to keep the companies operational and most importantly to keep our economy moving.
“As we kept saying, we need to learn to live with Covid-19.
“We will do whatever we can at NCC to make sure that our quarantine and testing guidelines, as well as rapid response teams, are ready to attend to any people that come in to quarantine.
“We have been having continuous communication with business community and the private sector.” Dr Esorom said earlier this week that close to 200 company executives in Morobe were assured that the Government and NCC would make sure the private sector was supported with vaccination and other interventions in the pandemic response.
He said this was because it was the private sector that employed people, supported families and communities.

Prof: Vaccines protect, not cure Covid-19

September 10, 2021The NationalNational

By GLORIA BAUAI
A MEDICAL professional says vaccines are only a prevention option and not a cure for Coronavirus (Covid-19).
University of Papua New Guinea Medical School Dean Prof John Vince said vaccines were 70 – 90 per cent effective against the initial Covid-19.
“Vaccine doesn’t give 100 per cent protection against the virus but strong evidence from around the world suggests it’s giving 100 per cent protection against contracting severe infection and death from Covid-19,” he said.
“So you shouldn’t be too surprised if you’re vaccinated and get mild illness and you’re found to be positive; nobody is claiming that vaccines give 100 per cent protection.”
Prof Vince confirmed vaccines did have side effects on people but was very rare, similar to any other medication.
“You’ve got to balance the risk of getting Covid-19 and falling severely ill and that risk is much higher when you’re not vaccinated,” he said.
“Life is full of risks; you take risks every day, you just have to balance your pros and cons so balance that against the risk of getting Covid-19 and dying.”
Prof Vince, who is a member of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee, also highlighted that recovery from Covid-19 can take several months.

Positive signs for travel as countries gradually lift restrictions

September 10, 2021The NationalNational

THERE are generally increasing signs that the present Coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions on international travel are being gradually lifted, according to Air Niugini.
The airline made the statement after New South Wales (NSW) premier Gladys Berejiklian announced last Saturday of plans to phase out passenger caps and hotel quarantine aligned with the state getting up to 80 per cent of people within it being fully vaccinated.
Berejiklian said this was likely to occur in late next month or early November.
The NSW Premier further highlighted that this would “make sense” for those travelling from overseas who were fully vaccinated.
Air Niugini said this was positive news for people who had been delaying their travel plans due to the Covid-19.
Air Niugini stated that prime ministers and presidents of other countries around the world have made similar statements with Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States of America already opening up international travel to fully vaccinated passengers.
“Those planning to travel internationally are reminded that generally, all destination countries will require evidence that you have been fully vaccinated,” Air Niugini said.
“Passengers must understand that this is not a requirement from the airline, but rather could be a condition of travel imposed by the destination country.
“For the AstraZeneca vaccine, passengers are also reminded that in order to be fully vaccinated, there is a two-month space between receiving your first vaccination dose and your second dose.”