Two new covid-19 cases in PNG capital

6:20 pm on 22 October 2020

Papua New Guinea authorities have reported two new Covid-19 cases recorded in the National Capital District.

It brings to PNG's total number of confirmed cases to 583.

Hanuabada, Port Moresby.

Hanuabada, Port Moresby. Photo: RNZ / Johnny Blades

According to the office of PNG's pandemic response controller, one of the new cases is a 34-year-old expatriate who arrived in the country earlier this month.

His symptoms became apparent while in hotel quarantine. The man was immediately isolated in a health facility as soon as his test result came back positive.

The second case is a 21-year-old male who was experiencing cough, fever, headache and loss of taste at the time of testing. He is a contact of a known positive case.

The National Capital District now has a total of 339 confirmed cases, while Western Province has 202 cases. Twelve other PNG provinces have registered cases.

To date, the country's health authorities have tested 27,003 people for coronavirus. Additional 323 samples are pending laboratory results.

There are 545 people who have recovered from COVID-19 while there are 31 active cases that are being isolated. The country's death toll from COVID-19 remains at seven.