The Covid-19 pandemic is regarded differently in Papua New Guinea compared to many other countries.
After coasting through the first year of the pandemic with little apparent toll on its population, PNG's case numbers surged in dramatic fashion around March this year.
The rate has tapered off in the past month, but PNG has now reported over 17,000 cases of the virus, and 177 known deaths. Yet only around 135,000 tests have been conducted.
With authorities recently announcing they were scaling down testing to focus more on vaccination, Johnny Blades looks at where PNG's pandemic response is heading.
146,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, bought by New Zealand were delivered to Papua New Guinea in mid-June Photo: PNG Health Department
