Briefs

Document flights
Prime Minister James Marape says the Government will control domestic flights to clamp down on the movement of people travelling out of their provinces. Marape said people would fill in a form to state where they were travelling to, the reason and the place they would be staying. “You must have genuine reason to travel to another province,” he said

SOE affects business
Western Highlands coffee grower Dokta Maip says his business has been affected by the state of emergency. Maip, who owns seven coffee plantations, said he employed around 5,000 people and he was finding it hard to pay the staff and run the operation. He said he normally sold his coffee beans at three wet factories in Jiwaka but his men could not transport the beans there.

Health advice
THE senior executive management team of the Health Department and the provincial health authorities should step up to provide sound leadership and management in the Covid-19 emergency response, a union official says. PNG Nurses Association general-secretary Gibson Siune said Covid-19 was a health crisis that would result in devastating social and economic problems over the coming months and years. Siune said the Government had to demonstrate that it was for the people and should safeguard the citizens.

Measures in NCD
NCD Governor Powes Parkop said police and defence personnel would be enforcing guidelines of the state of emergency in the city. “They will ensure that people are practising (physical) distancing and not gathering in crowds,” he said.

Ongoing testing
A TEAM of 32 trained personnel from the Health Department and PNG Defence Force started Covid-19 rapid response testing at seaports and airports since last Friday, Health secretary Dr Paison Dakulala says. He said volunteers from the University of PNG Medical School, health workers, police and the army were trained to provide rapid response testing at the country’s borders. “We will work on getting 1,000 tests at our borders,” he said. He said targeted sampling would be done in Port Moresby and Lae.

Gulf needs funds
The Gulf government has allocated K2.85 million for the provincial Covid-19 response but needs its functional grants to be released as soon as possible. Governor Chris Haiveta said the province had not received its functional grants since January. “We are not asking for additional funding, the Government must give us our functional grants for January, February and March so we can use these funds for the provincial response to Covid-19,” he said.

K50,000 allocated
Henganofi MP Robert Atiyafa says his district development authority has made available K500,000 to combat Covid-19 in the district. He urged the people to disseminate awareness on Covid-19 within their families.

Wong visits facility
HEALTH and HIV/AIDS Minister Jelta Wong visited the PNG Institute of Medical Research (PNGIMR) in Goroka on Monday to take stock of their facilities. Wong said PNGIMR had contributed immensely towards the efforts to combat Covid-19.