Papua New Guinea has recorded 29 new cases of Covid-19 and one more death.
PNG Pandemic Response Controller, David Manning Photo: EMTV
On Friday, the death toll stood at five with the total confirmed cases reaching 453.
Of the 29 new cases, 23 were from the Ok Tedi gold and copper mine in Western Province where 166 cases had been confirmed.
The National Capital District had the most cases with six new ones taking the total to 268.
PNG's Pandemic Response Controller, David Manning, is urging people to heed health and safety measures including the wearing of masks and maintaining physical distancing of 1.5 metres from the next person while in public.
"Covid-19 is going to be with us for a long time. We all need to be aware of this and take care of our health as well as our loved ones,'' he said.
Meanwhile, Western Province's closest neighbours - Papua and West Papua across the porous border with Indonesia - have reported 23 and 9 new cases respectively in the last 24 hours. This has increased the total confirmed cases in the two Indonesian provinces to 4,429. West Papua also reported a death, bringing the death toll in the two provinces to 54.
OK Tedi mine Photo: Ok Tedi Mine CMCA Review