COVID-19 pandemic in Papua New Guinea

COVID-19 pandemic in Papua New Guinea
DiseaseCOVID-19
Virus strainSARS-CoV-2
LocationPapua New Guinea
First outbreakWuhan, Hubei, China
Index caseLae
Arrival date20 March 2020
Confirmed cases45,917[1]
Active cases106
Recovered45,901
Deaths
668
Fatality rate1.01%
Vaccinations3.5% (348,938) with at least one dose
Government website
PNG Government Official COVID-19 Website

The COVID-19 pandemic in Papua New Guinea is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was confirmed to have reached Papua New Guinea on 20 March 2020.[2] On 4 May 2020, Papua New Guinea was declared COVID-19 free. However, on 20 June, the government confirmed another case of COVID-19, meaning that the disease was present again within the country.[3][4]

Until early 2021, the country managed to stave off a major COVID-19 outbreak, with only 1,275 cases reported at the end of February according to Johns Hopkins University. In March cases tripled, with Prime Minister James Marape speaking of "rampant community transmission".[5] By early May, the number of hospitalizations in the capital Port Moresby stabilized, but delays in receiving test results from regional areas were a concern.[6] In mid May, as the reasons for the apparent easing of the pandemic situation remained uncertain, discrepancies between government figures and higher ones from the provinces led to concerns that hundreds of COVID-19 cases had been missed in the national tally.[7]

As of March 2022 Papua New Guinea has a total of 41,533 cumulative cases and 639 deaths. As of March 2022, the country had a vaccination rate of 3.5%, one of the lowest in the world.[8]

  1. ^ "Covid-19 Level - Papua New Guinea".
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference first was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  4. ^ "Data on COVID-19 transmission in the Country not clear". EM TV. 4 May 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  5. ^ Hollingsworth, Julia (28 March 2021). "This country only has about 500 doctors for 9 million people. Now it's dealing with a Covid outbreak". CNN News. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  6. ^ Whiting, Natalie (4 May 2021). "COVID-19 numbers fall in Papua New Guinea but there are fears many cases have been missed". ABC. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  7. ^ Whiting, Natalie (13 May 2021). "Concerns hundreds of COVID-19 cases missing from PNG's national tally". ABC. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  8. ^ "PNG leader's "doing well" in Covid recovery'". RNZ. 10 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.