Country records 1,036 new Covid-19 cases, 15 deaths

PAPUA New Guinea recorded 10,835 Covid-19 cases as of Sunday, with 105 deaths, according to the National Control Centre’s figures released on Tuesday.
There were 1,036 new cases and 15 Covid-19-related deaths last week alone.
Covid-19 related deaths were reported from 12 of the 22 provinces, with 61 per cent from the National Capital District.
The statement from National Control Centre said limitations in the availability of the Covid-19 testing continued to pose challenges for case identification, prompt isolation and contact tracing efforts.
Provincial laboratory managers last week discussed the delays in results and areas which needed improvements. They agreed to recruit data entry clerks with laboratory backgrounds to improve the turnaround time for results.
A team from the National Control Centre visited the University of PNG’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences to discuss the use of its premises for Covid-19 testing.
Also last week, 10,000 GeneXpert cartridges were received from the World Health Organisation in Fiji and 20,000 from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The cartridges will be distributed to the provinces.
The Catholic Health Services has also requested that its staff be trained in conducting tests.