Papua New Guinea authorities have urged calm from the public amid tighter restrictions on movement in the capital following a confirmed case of COVID-19 there.
The case relates to a person who had been at the National Operations Centre, the control hub for PNG’s pandemic response efforts where key officials work on a daily basis.
When the case was announced as COVID-19 positive on Thursday, security forces brought the centre into lockdown, as testing of staff and people inside commenced.
The Prime Minister, James Marape, is among a number of government ministers who have been tested for COVID-19 and are understood to be isolating themselves.
In a release, Mr Marape confirmed five new cases of COVID-19 in the country, taking the total to seven. He said the case in the capital was a member of the Joint Agency Task Force formed in response to the pandemic.
News of the case in Port Moresby at first sparked confusion, then anger and anxiety, among the public. Many workers have been at the centre during recent weeks and were potentially exposed to the virus, including many of the country’s journalists.
Emphasising a need to refrain from public panic, Mr Manning emphasised that people should practice safety and health measures that have been promoted in the public domain over the past month.
“That is to keep safe physical distancing, cough into your elbow, do not touch your face, mouth or eyes and please stay at home. Stay at home if you have no reason to move around.”
Meanwhile, the PNG government is looking to increase testing, but Police Minister Bryan Kramer said it was faced with a low stock of testing kits and was ordering more from overseas.
