Covid-19 surge in Papua New Guinea

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Covid-19 surge in Papua New Guinea

PORT MORESBY: The fourth surge of Coronavirus (Covid-19) has seen 50 Port Moresby General Hospital staff infected, hospital director of medical services Dr Kone Sobi says.

“Also, 250 tests on patients seeking services in the hospital last week, 150 were positive.

“That is 60 per cent of the tests returned positive,” he added.

And National Pandemic Response Deputy Controller Dr Daoni Esorom is concerned about a potential increase in Covid-19 cases in schools which open this week.

PNG Cyber Monitor reproduces a few reports on the Covid-19 updates as reported by The National:

60pc of tests return positive: Doc

January 31, 2022The NationalNational

PORT Moresby General Hospital director of medical service Dr Kone Sobi said, of the 250 Coronavirus (Covid-19) test performed on patients seeking services at hospital last week, 150 were positive.
“That is 60 per cent of the tests returned positive,” he said.
“Many of the staff that were tested positive had mild symptoms and were isolated.”
Sobi said more than 300 Covid-19 tests have been performed at the hospital this year.
“There have been several admissions to the Covid-19 ward over the past week and many of them are with comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes, kidney disease and cancer,” he said.
“As of today (Friday) there are 23 in-patients at the Covid-19 ward and are all mild to moderate cases. Many of those that were tested have mild symptoms such as fever, coryza, itchy throat and malaise and were advised to isolate at home.
“They are advised to return if symptoms persist or worsened.”
Sobi said there were two deaths this year – first was on Jan 2 and the second last week – both had underlying medical conditions.
He said the hospital was still waiting for the results of samples sent to Australia for genome sequencing, but the nature of the surge had pointed to Omicron and due to its high transmissibility a lot of people would be affected.
He said on Friday the positivity rate was 80 per cent which meant eight out of ten people that were tested for Covid-19 were positive.
He said predictions were made last year that a surge was expected in March/April and from what was seen at the hospital the city was well into the fourth surge.

50 staff contract Covid

January 31, 2022The NationalMain Stories

LULU MARK
THE sharp increase in the Coronavirus (Covid-19) cases detected at the Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH) last week has left 50 staff infected with concerns of more contracting the virus, a doctor says
Director of medical service Dr Kone Sobi said more staff getting infected would impact the workforce and the provision of healthcare.
He said the hospital was not considering a scale down but was monitoring the situation closely.
He said the community could help by getting vaccinated and adhering to the Niupela Pasin.
“We are waiting for the results of the (Omicron) samples sent to Melbourne for genome sequencing to confirm,” he said.
“In the third Delta surge from September-November, the positivity rate increased slowly and as it increased, the admission rate into the hospital increased as well and the severity of the cases was high.
“However, this time despite the high positivity rate that went up in a space of one week, the admission was low and most of the patients had mild symptoms, including the staff.
“Whether it is the original variant, Delta, Omicron or the other variants the hospital treats them the same.”
Sobi said Omicron was generally mild but with its high transmissibility, even though most of the staff had mild symptoms and were isolated, a lot more could be affected and go in for isolation hence affecting the availability of the hospital’s workforce.
He said the hospital would be discussing with the Covid-19 National Control Centre (NCC) to reduce the number of home isolation days from 14 to around five. “If this is the Omicron variant we will have a lot more staff getting infected and will have mild symptoms but will still be required to go for the full isolation period as set by the NCC,” he said.
“With the mild symptoms the staff can isolate at home for few days, recover and return to work so healthcare service is maintained.
“Only NCC can make that decision.
“We are not seeing a lot of admission, but we are continuing to carry out our surveillance and testing activities and escalating our surge response plans while closely monitoring the situation.”
Sobi urged the public to be responsible as the hospital should not get to the point where a scale down of services had to be made.
He said there were a lot of medical conditions apart from Covid-19 that the hospital dealt with.

He said the hospital was prepared but “you just don’t know what might happen or make predictions so we have to prepare for the worst”.

Covid surge expected in schools

January 31, 2022The NationalMain Stories

NATIONAL Pandemic Response Deputy Controller Dr Daoni Esorom is concerned about a potential increase is the Coronavirus (Covid-19) cases in schools which open this week.
“My concern is children going back to school (from this week) and in overcrowded conditions, schools are expected to see an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases. This is due to the Omicron variant,” he said.
He said Omicron infected young people and children more than the other variants.
“Schools must put in place measures to cover for teachers in the event that a lot of them get infected and miss classes,” Esorom said.
“At the same time, schools must work with parents to ensure that the spread among children is minimised. We are also expecting a lot of children to be absent from school if they become infected.
“Omicron has shown to infect young people and children and this will happen in PNG.”
Esorom said Omicron, one of the five variants, was easily transmissible so a lot of people would become infected and had advised that people who had flu-like symptoms and cough needed to get tested for the Covid-19. “Knowing one’s status will enable people to access care and prevent themselves from spreading the virus,” he said.
He urged people 18 years and above to get vaccinated.
“Omicron will spread very fast and a lot of people will become infected,” Esorom said.

Esorom: Authorities must be alert, proactive

January 31, 2022The NationalNational

THE Provincial Health Authorities (PHA) must be alert and be proactive in dealing with the imminent fourth Coronavirus (Covid-19) Omicron surge, National Pandemic Response deputy controller Dr Daoni Esorom says.
“We expect a surge and we will be calling up the PHAs to see how their preparedness is,” he said.
“We have been through this over the two years and now it should be routine.
“The most important thing the pharmaceutical interventions measure that need to be put in place, increasing testing, making sure the positive cases are managed within the hospital to prevent severe disease and deaths and most importantly vaccination plus boosters.
“NCC put in the strategies and the authorities should know how to prepare in terms of having enough mask, personal protective equipment, vaccinating people and boost the health system.”
Dr Esorom said 22 new Covid-19 cases were recorded last Monday, bringing the total to 36,570 of which 128 were newly diagnosed in the last 14 days and active while 35,846 have recovered and 597 were deaths.
He said the 22 cases were recorded from the National Capital District (13), East New Britain (5), Central (2) and Jiwaka (2).
Of these cases, 708 were Delta cases and one was Omicron. These numbers were expected to increase as more samples were sent to Melbourne for genome sequencing.

Airline asks travellers to provide proof of vaccination

January 31, 2022The NationalNational

AIR Niugini is reminding international travellers to provide acceptable evidence of being fully vaccinated at time of check-in.
“This (vaccination) is now a requirement for travel to most countries, including Papua New Guinea,” Air Niugini said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Exemption from vaccination for children is dependent on the requirements of their destination country.”
Air Niugini said certificates valid for travel included the PNG international certificate of coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccination (ICCV), the World Health Organisation yellow card, the Australian Covid-19 digital vaccination certificate.
“The green card PNG vaccination certificate is not valid for international travel, as it does not include either the persons date of birth or their passport number,” the airline said. “Passengers without any valid certificate cannot be checked in.”
Air Niugini said the ICCV was available from the Health Department upon production of a copy of the green vaccination card and passport.
It said the department had been providing the capability for the ICCV to be issued at the airport prior to departure, but this has now ceased.
Air Niugini said passengers travelling to Australia were now required to complete the Australian travel declaration as part of confirmation that the passenger was fully vaccinated.