Western health authority clears village leaders of Covid-19

THE Western health authority cleared five Fly River village leaders of Covid-19 last Saturday after quarantining them in Daru upon their return from Singapore on a business trip, acting South Fly police commander Insp Soiwa Ricker says.
Insp Ricker said yesterday that the villages’ leaders were among 18 passengers who had gone to Daru on March 23 without completing their 14-day quarantine period in Port Moresby upon arrival from Singapore.
He said the 18 Fly River corridor village leaders arrived in Daru on a chartered plane after attending a court case involving the Ok Tedi mine in Singapore last month.
“They were quarantined in Port Moresby upon arrival from Singapore but, somehow, they arranged to leave for Daru when they had five more days of quarantine,” he said, adding that they travelled on two chartered flights.
“The first flight arrived at 2pm with six passengers.
“We were surprised as there was not supposed to be any flights to Daru as per Prime Minister James Marape’s announcement on March 22, that all domestic flights would stop for 14 days.
“So we went to the airport and told the leaders not to move and to wait for the plane to return.
“The second flight came in at 4pm and the pilot was told to bring all the passengers back to Port Moresby as per instructions from the Covid-19 national operations centre in Port Moresby.
“Due to the availability of the seats, only 13 of them returned to Port Moresby to complete their quarantine.
“The rest completed the remaining five days in quarantine here (in Daru).”
Meanwhile, Ricker said four people returning from Merauke city, Papua in Indonesia, on March 24, were still under quarantine.