COVID-19 UPDATES 21 August
COVID-19 News Updates 21.08.2020
| Country | CasesConfirmed | Deaths |
| French Polynesia | 252 (89 recovered) | 0 |
| Fiji | 28 (20 recovered) | 1 |
| New Caledonia | 23 (22 recovered) | 0 |
| Papua New Guinea | 361 (198 recovered) | 4 |
| Samoa | 0 | 0 |
| Vanuatu | 0 | 0 |
| Cook Islands | 0 | 0 |
| Tonga | 0 | 0 |
| Solomon Islands | 0 | 0 |
| Niue | 0 | 0 |
| Kiribati | 0 | 0 |
| FSM | 0 | 0 |
| Palau | 0 | 0 |
| Tuvalu | 0 | 0 |
| Marshall Islands | 0 | 0 |
| Nauru | 0 | 0 |
Note: The above data is sourced from the official website of the Western Pacific Region of the World Health Organization. It may update untimely or inconsistency with the relevant data in the article sourced from local news.
https://who.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/345dfdc82b5c4f6a815f1d54a05d18ec
PNG reports fourth COVID-19 death
Papua New Guinea has reported its fourth COVID-19 death, reported by PACNEWS on 21 August.
The National Coordination Centre (NCC) Incident Manager Dr Esorom Daoni told a media briefing Thursday, the case is of a 72-year old male who was tested positive on 12 August and died on 14 August.
Dr Esorom said the deceased was admitted at the Port Moresby General Hospital and had respiratory distress coupled with other illnesses like diabetes among others. “Severe respiratory distress is a common or a very severe symptom of patients who have COVID-19.
He was tested positive on Gene-Xpert at the Port Moresby General Hospital, he also had a history of diabetes, hypertension. He was ventilated and incubated at the same time, and immediately as soon as the results came out, relayed and contact tracing done. He lives around the Boroko area, Dr Esorom said.
Meantime, the country’s COVID-19 cases now stand at 361, 198 of whom are recovered cases and 163 are active cases. Dr Esorom said these cases are from 11 provinces out of the 21 provinces, including the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.
He said the nation's capital is leading with 244 cases as of Thursday 20 August, with Western Province second with 98 cases most of whom are from the Ok Tedi Mining cluster.
Dr Esorom said Central and Morobe have five cases each, East New Britain has two cases, West Sepik, Eastern Highlands, Southern Highlands, New Ireland, Milne Bay and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville have one case each.
In the past week:
-
12 new coronavirus cases on 19 August bringing the total number of infections to 359, all from Ok Tedi Mining Limited in Western Province.
-
14 new coronavirus cases on 18 August bringing the total number of infections to 345, all from National Capital District.
-
10 new coronavirus cases on 17 August bringing the total number of infections to 333, one of them is the first case from Milne Bay Province, the other nine cases are from the National Capital District
-
52 new coronavirus cases during 14-16 August bringing the total number of infections to 323, 38 are from Western Province and 15 from the National Capital District.
SOURCE: PACNEWS
http://www.pina.com.fj/index.php?p=pacnews&m=read&o=11289740125f3f1de2b2d23bc1e14
Relevant News:
12 NEW COVID-19 CASES REPORTED IN PNG TODAY
https://covid19.info.gov.pg/index.php/2020/08/20/12-new-covid-19-cases-reported-in-png-today/
or
https://covid19.info.gov.pg/index.php/2020/08/20/12-new-covid-19-cases-reported-in-png-today/
NCD REPORTS 14 NEW COVID-19 CASES TODAY
https://covid19.info.gov.pg/index.php/2020/08/18/ncd-reports-14-new-covid-19-cases-today/
MILNE BAY REPORTS FIRST COVID-19 CASE
https://covid19.info.gov.pg/index.php/2020/08/17/milne-bay-reports-first-covid-19-case/
PNG REPORTS ANOTHER 52 COVID-19 CASES
https://covid19.info.gov.pg/index.php/2020/08/16/png-reports-another-52-covid-19-cases/
French Polynesia records more coronavirus cases
According to news released by PACNEWS on 19 August, French Polynesia has recorded a further 19 Covid-19 cases, bringing its total in the current outbreak to 149 since the reopening of the borders on 15 July. (The total number of confirmed cases is 211. As of the publication of this article on 21 August, the total number of confirmed cases announced on the official website of the Western Pacific Region of the World Health Organization is 252.)
The health minister Jacques Raynal said 10 cases concern tourists while the remainder is the result of local transmission. He said the coronavirus spread at parties, barbecues and events such as baby showers. All Covid-19 cases detected in outer islands were transferred to dedicated isolation facilities in Tahiti.
The outbreak prompted several schools in Tahiti to close for this week.
In the previous report on the 17 August, French Polynesia confirmed 26 cases in a single day on the 16th. Some islands reporting coronavirus cases included Bora Bora which had been free of Covid-19 during the first wave.
In the past week:
-
21 new coronavirus cases on 19 August bringing the total number of infections to 232.
-
45 new coronavirus cases on 17 August bringing the total number of infections to 211.
-
27 new coronavirus cases on 14 August bringing the total number of infections to 166.
(The data is sourced from the official website of the Western Pacific Region of the World Health Organization.)
SOURCE: PACNEWS
http://www.pina.com.fj/index.php?p=pacnews&m=read&o=10250751085f3c74a380aaac610f6d
A total of 170 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed between August 2 and August 19
https://www.presidence.pf/point-de-situation-sur-le-coronavirus-au-19-aout/
A total of 149 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed between August 2 and August 17
https://www.presidence.pf/point-de-situation-sur-le-coronavirus-au-17-aout/
A total of 104 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed between August 2 and August 14
https://www.presidence.pf/point-de-situation-sur-le-coronavirus-au-14-aout/
Repatriation flights to bring back Solomon Islands students in Philippines
According to news reported by SOLOMON STAR on 17 August, three repatriation flights to bring home Solomon Islands students studying in the Philippines are all set for next month.
That's according to Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development (MEHRD) James Bosamata.
Speaking at the weekly talk-back show on Sunday Bosamata said the dates for those repatriation flights include 15tSeptember, 18 September and the last flights would be on 22 October 2020. The approved dates were agreed to on Friday by the Oversight Committee.
He said the government through the Ministry of Education and other line ministries will continue to prepare ahead for those repatriation flights. “I want to assure that MEHRD together with other line ministries such as the Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade (MFAET) will continue to prepare ahead to those repatriation flights.”
Bosamata said one of the important aspects of the preparation is to ensure those students have to be tested whilst in the Philippines and their results must be negative before they can board the flights.
“Now we already gathered important information as to where the students’ locations now in the Philippines because we need to know they are tested before they board the flights,” he added.
SOURCE: SOLOMON STAR
https://www.solomonstarnews.com/index.php/news/national/item/23961-mass-repatriation
Relevant News:
Solomon Islands repatriation flights temporarily suspended
http://www.pina.com.fj/index.php?p=pacnews&m=read&o=4118348235f39dd1cca7ab0fbf0038
Vanuatu repatriation flights to be operated from Brisbane, Auckland, Nadi, Tontouta Airports
According to news reported by VANUATU DAILY POST on 19 Aug, Air Vanuatu will be operating repatriation flights under the Government’s second repatriation phase from four international airports: Brisbane in Australia, Auckland (New Zealand), Nadi (Fiji) and Tontouta in New Caledonia.
The National Disaster Management Office will be coordinating the repatriation flights with the national airline to bring back citizens and residents.
Arriving repatriates will be following strict requirements from the Department of Immigration and Department of Foreign Affairs under the second repatriation phase, Prime Minister Bob Loughman said during Tuesday’s press conference to give an update on the repatriation process.
“The number of COVID-19 cases continues to increase globally,” he said. “I am proud to say that the country still maintains its status as a coronavirus-free nation. The government wants everyone to know that our borders will continue to remain close, to prevent the virus from entering our country because public health is paramount.”
SOURCE: VANUATU DAILY POST