Two Aussie citizens cleared of virus after alleged illegal entry

TWO Australian citizens have been cleared of coronavirus in Vanimo after allegedly entering PNG illegally from Indonesia, West Sepik health authority chairman Gerald Gubon says.
“They have been cleared after being quarantined for 14 days at a lodge outside Vanimo town after they arrived at Waromo village on March 5 from Jayapura,” he said.
“They have now been tested and the results are negative so they will be allowed to appear before the court facing charges of illegal entry.
“They have been transferred to the Vanimo jail to be remanded awaiting their next court appearance.” Earlier, senior provincial magistrate Sasa Inkung had ordered for the duo to be quarantined for coronavirus for 14 days after they appeared before him in the Vanimo District Court.
The court also ordered that they should be isolated and that the healthy authority had to give clearance for them to appear in court.
Magistrate Inkung said that Sam Roem, 31, and Yoshua Roem, 27, originally from Jayapura city, West Papua were Australian citizens.
They had arrived by boat at Waromo village without immigration documents.
Due to the coronavirus awareness, the public on alert for anyone crossing into West Sepik reported them to police, resulting in their arrest.
They are also suspected to have illegally crossed the border into Indonesia earlier last December after arriving in Vanimo from Australia via Port Moresby.