Hospital dismisses rumours of coronavirus

THE Pacific International Hospital (PIH) has dismissed rumours of a coronavirus (COVID-19) patient at the hospital over the weekend.
“PIH would like to inform the public that as of this date, there has been no presentation of a possible coronavirus to PIH,” the hospital said in a statement yesterday.
There have been no cases of the virus in Papua New Guinea since the outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, last month.
“We want to appeal to the public to disregard fake news and not to forward unsubstantiated rumours.
“PIH will be the first to inform the National Department of Health (NDOH) if we have identified a suspect and NDOH will then inform the public if there is any confirmation.”
The hospital said it was deeply concerned with misleading and false information published and circulated by irresponsible individuals on social media.
“This is a disservice to the public as it is not only creating unnecessary anxiety and fear among the community, but can even hamper someone’s health, if they were to avoid going to the hospital for treatment, simply because of these malicious rumours.”
PIH said its infection committee had taken steps to prepare itself especially in terms of identifying any cases presented at its facility.