90% of Covid-19 deaths in Papua New Guinea are unvaccinated
News that matter in Papua New Guinea
90% of Covid-19 deaths in Papua New Guinea are unvaccinated
PORT MORESBY: Prime Minister James Marape says more than of the 436
people who died from Coronavirus (Covid-19) to date are unvaccinated.
“The statistics are scary. The focus should now be
more on prevention efforts, Many of the dead are from the working class,” he
added.
And, the Lands and Physical Planning Minister John
Rosso said his department office here had stepped up its workplace health security
measures after two employees died from Cvid-19.
PNG Cyber Monitor reproduces below
several news report on the Covid-19 status in Papua New Guinea as reported by The National:
Dept steps up
security measures
November 17, 2021The
NationalMain Stories
A GOVERNMENT department has stepped
up its workplace health security measures after two employees died from the
Coronavirus (Covid-19), Parliament was told yesterday.
Lands and Physical Planning Minister John Rosso said the department office in
Port Moresby had stepped up its security measures for employees and customers.
He raised a point of order when Rabaul MP Dr Allan Marat questioned the
no-jab-no-job policy implemented by some government agencies that was
preventing people from accessing services.
“I just like to clarify that there is no policy that says there is
no-jab-no-job,” Rosso said.
“All lands officers who work in there are welcome to go up around and do their
duties. No one has been terminated from their work.”
Rosso said the reason why people were restricted from entering the premises and
the requirement to get vaccinated or having a test done was because of the
deaths of the staff members.
“Two staff (members) actually died,” he said.
“We had to take them home. So, I was more worried about my staff.
“I didn’t want any more staff to die of the Covid-19 in the Lands Department. I
have a duty, as the minister, to protect my staff.”
Covid-19
patient Gabina: I should have got the jab
November 16,
2021The NationalPeople
By LULU MARK
GABINA Diari, 69, from Kemabolo village along the Rigo Coast in Central
believes he is lucky to recover in hospital after being infected with the
Coronavirus (Covid-19).
He was brought to the Port Moresby General Hospital on Sept 30 where he spent
six nights in Ward 3B, which was then the Covid-19 ward.
When his condition improved, he was transferred on Oct 6 to the Nightingale
Covid-19 center in Taurama where he spent another 10 days. He was discharged on
Oct 15.
Gabina has eight children and 13 grandchildren, and is grateful to be alive and
well.
His work in the Rigo district office involves a lot of travelling which
includes visiting wards and travelling to Port Moresby. When the Covid-19
struck, he tried to avoid the vaccination facilities.
“I blame myself when I fell sick because I disregarded the health workers’
advice about practising the Niupela Pasin and getting the vaccination.”
He did not believe that one day he would be admitted in hospital after getting
the virus. He regretted not getting the jab when he saw the scene inside the
hospital.
“You will have tears in your eyes (just seeing) people lying on the floor
waiting for a bed. The ward that I was in was filled to capacity.”
What also moved him was seeing doctors and nurses struggling to keep up with
their daily work under a lot of pressure.
“ I blame myself
when I fell sick because I disregarded the health workers’ advice about
practicing the Niupela Pasin and getting the vaccination.”
He thanks them for the care and
support they gave him at PMGH. He now wishes that everyone does the right thing
to protect themselves by getting vaccinated to avoid going to the hospital and
adding to the workload of health workers.
He advises particularly older people to be extra careful.
“After arriving at the Taurama center, I realised that I was the oldest person
admitted there. The rest were in their 40s and 50s. Everyone was on oxygen.”
After some days of recuperation in Taurama, Gabina was able to remove his
oxygen mask and started walking around.
“It showed that my condition was improving. I cooperated with the nurses,
including the Australian volunteers, during my treatment. I talked with the
staff.”
While there, he used his laptop to draft a submission to his MP (Lekwa Gure) to
have a fundraising drive for the St John Ambulance. He plans to follow it up.
When he was discharged, Gabina thought that he would be given a bill to pay.
“I walked out thinking a bill would be waiting for me. But there was none.”
He thanks the health workers at PMGH and the Taurama center, and of course the
volunteers from Australia, for doing an excellent job in looking after him and
other patients. “They work for more than 12 hours a day and are always there to
assist us. They came down to our level and I am very thankful to them.”
He allowed the St John Ambulance to publish his pictures and story which many
people appreciated as it was the first time to see a Covid-19 patient in
hospital.
Gabina is happy that his pictures and story were shared with members of public
to help people realise that the Covid-19 is real and that they must protect
themselves.
“I didn’t get the vaccine when I had the chance but now I am looking forward to
getting the jab in January. I was advised to wait for three months to get the
vaccine.”
Gabina has now learnt a lesson which he wants to share with others: Protect
yourselves against the Covid-19 by following the public health safety measures
and, most importantly, get vaccinated.
He knows he was wrong in avoiding vaccination in the first place.
Hospital
services still restricted
November 17, 2021The
NationalMain Stories
By ELIAS LARI
THE Mt Hagen General Hospital is unable to re-open all services due to
ongoing funding restrictions, the provincial health authority (PHA) says.
Authority chairman David Guinn said despite the fact that the Coronavirus
(Covid-19) admissions had reduced, services were still affected.
He said they had been raising the issue of ongoing underfunding through its
appropriations for 2021 and had received assurances that the Health Department
was working with Treasury and Finance departments to ensure funding promises
would be honoured.
Guinn said they had received only 33 per cent of the appropriation.
“We have to purchase basic drugs and medical supplies not supplied through the
normal system, pay essential staff not yet transferred to the national payroll
system, buy diesel, keep an old vehicle fleet operational and provide food and
laundry services to our patients,” he said.
Guinn said the appropriation was already about K15 million less than what they
needed.
“When we previously raised this issue, the response was that we had been
donated a lot of funds,” he said.
“That is true and they were for the Covid-19 and the authority is one of a few
PHAs that had at that time fully acquitted it’s funds and provided plans for
future needs.”
He said the authority was also awaiting the release of funds for the completion
of the quarantine shed from the provincial Covid-19 trust account which had
been locked up since January apparently due to changes in signatories.
Guinn said the PHA had been fortunate to receive donor funding for its Covid-19
plan.
He said only lifesaving emergency and surgical services could be provided from
its emergency department and surgical services.
He said tuberculosis and antiretroviral drug therapy could still collect
medication if required.
Guinn said as soon as funding became available, consultation clinics would be
re-opened.
November 17, 2021The
NationalMain Stories
PRIME Minister James Marape has
reiterated the Government’s stand on the Coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccination,
saying it is voluntary.
But, he quickly points out that employers have the right to ensure that the
workplace is safe and Covid-19-free, as a safety requirement.
He was responding to concerns raised by Rabaul MP Dr Allan Marat on employers
in Rabaul laying off unvaccinated employees, especially the middle-income and
low-income earners.
Marape said the Government sympathised with the people affected who had decided
not to get vaccinated.
He said the no-jab-no-job policy did not originate from the Government, but
some employers wanted workers to be vaccinated under the workplace safety
requirement.
He said the National Pandemic Controller (David Manning) and the Covid-19
National Control Centre had advised employers to take it easy on the
no-jab-no-job policy.
“We have given a concerted view in terms of going down to the workplace to
ensure that the niupela pasin protocols are tailored to
respect the rights but at the same time maintain safety by doing testing at the
workplace especially the major ones,” he said
“The controller issued instruction about two weeks ago to all employers
throughout the country to have testing at the workplaces for employees and
clients.
“With the issue of workplace safety of people that are working as security,
cleaners, public servants and company employees, we are going out to tailor
testing requirements to the workplace to the best of our ability.
“These testing too won’t be 100 per cent safe because if you get the Covid-19,
it won’t show until seven to eight days. We try to have a workplace that is
safe from transmission.
“The workplace has every right to ensure there is a workplace safety.”
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