Over 21,000 screened for virus

By REBECCA KUKU
A TOTAL of 21,558 inbound passengers have been screened so far as of March 5 at the points of entry at the Jackson International Airport and seaports in Port Moresby, according to Papua New Guinea’s situation report on Covid-19 (coronavirus).
The report said that so far, the health team had identified 876 “persons of interest” who are being monitored regularly by the surveillance team.
“Of the 876 persons being monitored, 407 have completed the 14-day follow-up period, while 469 are still on active monitoring,” it said.
About 71 per cent of those monitored are from Port Moresby.
“There have been 12 persons investigated by the rapid response team,” it said.
“However, other two persons did not meet the case definition so samples were collected from only 10 persons.
“Seven have tested negative for coronavirus while three samples are still pending results,” the report added.
It also said an isolation ward of eight beds continued to be prepared at the Port Moresby General Hospital as training on clinical management and prevention was being implemented in health facilities across the country.
“An emergency preparedness and response plan for Covid-19 has also been updated based on the recent risk assessment – identifying different scenarios and key actions for every phase,” it said.
“Currently, PNG is in the green zone – alert phase.
“But we are preparing for a scenario that if the Covid-19 virus enters PNG, containment is the top priority.”