Papua New Guinea's Police Commissioner David Manning is the Controller of the country's State of Emergency during the covid-19 pandemic. Photo: PNG PM Media
Authorities in PNG have confirmed two more cases of Covid-19 were recorded yesterday in Morobe province bringing the total number in the country to 271.
The National Pandemic Response Controller David Manning said an earlier figure of 287 reported in the media was incorrect.
Mr Manning said the two new cases in Morobe both had histories of international travel and bring the total number of cases in that province to five.
He said with the 207 covid tests conducted yesterday, more than 12,000 people have now been tested in PNG.
David Manning said there are 179 persons of interest being monitored in quarantine including people who have recently arrived from overseas.
Western Province mining shutdown
Major economic activity in PNG's Western Province has been disrupted due to its Covid-19 outbreak.
While the majority of PNG's almost 300 confirmed cases of the coronavirus are in the capital Port Moresby, remote Western Province had registered 47 cases to date, with 37 of them reported in the past day.
The province's Ok Tedi copper and gold mine last week suspended operations for at least two weeks, after seven of its workers tested positive.
Contract work related to Ok Tedi had now also been suspended.
Paul Asek, an employee of Starwest Construction, said he and other workers were confined to camp.
"We are locked down because they don't want workers to get the covid-19 virus. So they locked down the camp and locked down the operation. Now they are doing the testing and medical checks," Paul Asek said.
Speaking from Kiunga, the North Fly town which services the large mine, Asek said that authorities had been urging the public to wear masks, practice social distancing and wash hands regularly.
Meanwhile as well as contact tracing, testing for Covid continues in the area. Western Province samples have been tested in Brisbane through an arrangement with Ok Tedi Mining Limited.
The company, which said the suspension was for two weeks, was hopeful of resumption of mining operations at the conclusion of the lockdown and quarantine period.
Its chief executive, Musje Werror, said re-opening would depend on the results of contact tracing.