Australian Defence Force officer confirmed covid positive in PNG

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

The Papua New Guinea government has announced a ninth covid-19 case in the country, and this has since been confirmed by the Australian Defence Force as being an officer posted to Port Moresby.

This news came on Friday as the country entered the fourth day of operating under the new Pandemic Act recently passed by Parliament after the implementation and enforcement of the State of Emergency (SoE), reports the PNG Post-Courier.

The case, a 44-year-old military officer had been in the country since January and he has been isolated.

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He reported symptoms of covid-19 on June 9, almost two weeks ago.

When the announcement was made, there were no indications of restrictions being imposed.

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Eight previous cases have been seven Papua New Guineans and a foreign national mine worker who was repatriated to Australia.

All previous cases have recovered from covid-19.

ADF confirmation
The Australian Defence Force confirmed that an officer had tested positive for coronavirus in Papua New Guinea, reports ABC Radio Australia.

In a statement, the ADF said that the member had tested positive for covid-19 on June 18.

“The member self-isolated on June 5 after reporting cold and flu-like symptoms and has been following medical directions since that time,” the ADF statement said.

Australia’s High Commission has conducted contact tracing and provided this information to the PNG government, and ADF says the officer is following the directions of PNG authorities.