A message from Dr Gen Nelson "You can protect yourself...”
If there is one message you take from this piece let it be this: you can protect yourself from the risk of contracting COVID-19.
The COVID-19 crisis is currently escalating in Papua New Guinea, with more than half of PNG’s positive cases having been recorded in the past 3 weeks. As of Friday, 70% of people being tested at Port Moresby General Hospital are currently returning a positive result. 19 of PNG’s 22 Provinces have recorded COVID-19 cases.
I have just been released from hotel quarantine in Australia and returned my final negative test result – four in the past fortnight. Having spent the past month with our team in Port Moresby as well as remote communities in Western and Oro Provinces, we have practiced COVID-19 safe protocols and behaviours at all times. We have since the pandemic began.
Precautions that can be taken include:
1. Face-masks: wear a face mask at all times when you are outside of your home and around other people. Face masks should be WHO minimum standard masks which are at least three-layers. Masks should be well fitted; you can double loop the elastic to make them tighter. Double-masking will also give you more protection in high-risk areas.
2. Hand hygiene: wash your hands regularly throughout the day. Hand washing should be with soap and water; or hand sanitiser. Do not touch your face or hair unless you have washed your hands.
3. Distancing: make sure you keep a minimum 1.5m gap between yourself and other people. Minimise your time around other people as much as possible.
4. Isolate if sick: if you have any cold and flu symptoms including sore throat, cough, shortness of breath, headache, body aches you should immediately be tested for COVID-19 (if testing is available near you) and isolate until you return a negative result. If there is no testing available, you and your immediate family should isolate for 14 days.
Upon returning to Australia, we found that we had in fact been exposed for an extended period to COVID-19 positive cases in the final days of our time in PNG. We were also then exposed to positive cases on the plane on our return to Australia, classifying us as ‘close contacts’ of people with the virus. It is also very likely that we were exposed at other times during this recent trip; like many of our PNG team inevitably have been in recent weeks and months. The fact that we are all currently healthy and have not contracted the virus is testament to the power of the protective measures that you can put in place right now to prevent yourself from contracting the virus.
Vaccine roll-out in PNG, especially in remote and rural areas, is many, many months away. In the meantime, Papua New Guineans can protect themselves and their families from contracting the virus by being vigilant with masks, hand washing, distancing and isolation. It is up to each individual to take personal responsibility and adhere to the ‘niupela pasin’.
Meanwhile, the KTF team is continuing our efforts to provide masks, personal protective equipment, hygiene kits, water taps and tanks, and COVID-19 education manuals and awareness programs across our catchment areas in remote and rural PNG.
Dr Genevieve Nelson, CEO KTF
Cairns, 22 March 2021