The Bougainville Government has reassured people that rumours of a first confirmed case of Covid-19 in the Papua New Guinea autonomous region are wrong.
In a statement, it said samples taken from an Arawa person were being investigated for severe acute respiratory infection in addition to a flu-like infection.
Arawa Photo: RNZ / Johnny Blades
It said the person was in a stable condition and there were still no cases of Covid-19 in Bougainville.
But it said samples continued to be taken from "persons of interest."
Meanwhile a quarantine facility and an isolation facility were both nearly ready for use, in case they were needed.
The Bougainville President, John Momis, previously said that it was vital for Bougainville to keep the virus out of the region because it lacked the capacity to deal with an outbreak.