Abstract
On March 20, 2020, the first positive case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was detected in Papua New Guinea (PNG). That same day, a state of emergency was declared in the country, thereby halting all incoming and domestic flights and limiting travel between provinces. Meanwhile, the PNG government established the National Control Centre (NCC) to specifically respond to the pandemic. The pandemic’s second wave struck local areas in February 2021, with a corresponding surge in the number of positive cases (Figure 1A). As of March 15, 2021, 54,410 nasal samples have been collected and tested nationwide, with 2,351 confirmed positive cases and 26 deaths.
Highlights
On March 20, 2020, the first positive case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was detected in Papua New Guinea (PNG)
While these numbers are still lower than that in some other countries, there has been a sharp increase in cases and the World Health Organization (WHO) is highly concerned about the pandemic’s potential to spread much wider [1]
Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) experts were located within the Incident Management Team (IMT) pillar areas, assisting in daily work, providing technical assistance, and supporting special projects
Summary
On March 20, 2020, the first positive case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was detected in Papua New Guinea (PNG). As of March 15, 2021, 54,410 nasal samples had been collected and tested nationwide, with 2,351 confirmed positive cases and 26 deaths While these numbers are still lower than that in some other countries, there has been a sharp increase in cases and the World Health Organization (WHO) is highly concerned about the pandemic’s potential to spread much wider [1]. PNG has a relatively weak healthcare system [3] and one of the world’s lowest ratios of doctors; the World Bank figures for 2018 show the country had only 0.07 physicians per 1,000 people. From the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the WHO deployed experts to the PNG government to provide technical support for case management, epidemiology, infection prevention and control, laboratory support, and information management [1]. We have reviewed and assessed the COVID19 real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) assay and instrument platform, and laboratory design and space, for three private
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