Bussinesses supporting partners

THE business community in West New Britain will continue to support authorities and avoid any future Covid-19 lockdown measures, says West New Britain (WNB) Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Ian O’Hanlon.
“Lately, our own reports of positive Covid-19 case numbers have been twisted and used against us to make headlines around the country for all the wrong reasons,” he said.
“It is important for people to know and understand that WNB is currently the highest-testing province in PNG.
“This is why we are detecting and reporting positive cases,” he said.
“We are trying to do the right thing and are being penalised for it.
“WNB has conducted close to 11,000 combined tests (polymerase chain reaction and rapid).
“Our actual detection rate on recent figures is only 0.69 per cent, which is a very encouraging sign that the curve is flattening in WNB.”
The recent report from World Health Organisation highlights the lack of testing being carried out in all the other provinces, O’Hanlon said.
“It is time for the authorities to shift the spotlight on to provinces that are doing zero to little testing.
“As a whole, PNG remains in the dark as to our true Covid-19 situation and that is where we will stay if testing rates are not increased nationwide.
“I would like to encourage the authorities to learn from the good example set by WNB and roll out more testing in other provinces.”