5 Delta cases reported at NSI

By ROBINSON LEKA
THE Papua New Guinea Sports Foundation yesterday confirmed a total of five Coronavirus (Covid-19) Delta variant cases at Goroka’s National Sports Institute (NSI) which had been closed since Friday.
The foundation’s pandemic management committee said five of its NSI-based staff had tested positive for the variant, but, they were in a stable condition and showing no symptoms of the virus yet.
“We’ve been in contact with the people at Goroka and we have five staff who are positive for the Delta variant,” committee chairman Dr Kapua Kapua said.
“So we had to shut down the venue over the weekend.
“Initially, there were only two cases that tested positive (for the variant).
“After that, I called and asked everyone there to go for testing again and they found three more cases, so they were asked to shut down
“They’re fine, they are seen to be asymptomatic and they should be good to pull through.
“We have between 40 and 50 staff at NSI along with their families and relatives who reside with them and they all went for testing.
“NSI is closed since they are in a hot spot as one of the three high-risk provinces (Eastern Highlands, Western and West Sepik).
“That has also influenced our decision to close all our venues.
“We’re not just doing this for the sporting community, but for our staff.
“We’ve got to protect them too.
“We’ve shut down the whole facility since Friday and now we’re shutting down everything else.”