Covid-19 case raising more questions, says O’Neill

THE ninth reported case of the Covid-19 raises more questions than answers, says former prime minister and Ialibu Pangia MP Peter O’Neil.
He said in a statement yesterday the case questioned the government’s handling of the pandemic threat and whether the coronavirus “has already spread” around the country. O’Neill said “the lack of clear and honest communication about the Covid-19 is further undermining the people’s confidence” in the Government.
“Papua New Guineans can defeat such a virus threat as we have in the past, but not if our people are kept in the dark and do not know what we are dealing with,” he said.
“The timeline given by the Police Commissioner (David Manning) on the latest case does not stack up and indicates there has been a government cover-up of the facts,” he said.
“And this raises more questions about the reliability of Government’s Covid-19 testing.”
He said the Australian Defence Force officer had symptoms more than two weeks ago, but tests were only made public by Manning on June 20.
“However, the Australian Government in a statement revealed that the patient tested positive to the Covid-19 on Thursday, June 18.
“So why did the PNG Government wait for two more days to announce the case and claim they only received the positive result on June 20?
“This is irresponsible and Marape has to (explain) why he hid this information, and if this was also the reason he cancelled his news conference on Thursday,” O’Neill said.
“Now is a time when we need leadership from the top, not for our leaders to hide.”
Manning, also the National Pandemic Controller, told The National last night that most importantly, the officer was improving and remained isolated at his home.