Health alert

By MIRIAM ZARRIGA
HEALTH officials yesterday confirmed the first positive Covid-19 Delta variant case detected in the country, and warned that a substantial percentage of the population is still to be vaccinated and to do so now.
Dr Daoni Eserom, the Covid-19 National Pandemic Response Deputy Controller, said a 65-year-old ship captain from the Philippines, when tested positive, was under quarantine at a hospital in Port Moresby.
He said the positive Covid-19 case with the Delta mutation was confirmed through genome sequencing.
“The positive Delta case is the captain of the cargo ship Grand Tajima (which) departed from the Banjarmasin Port, Kalimanta province in Indonesia,” he said.
“He is currently in quarantine and in a stable condition.
“As a precaution, six people who accompanied (him) to shore on the pilot boat also went into immediate quarantine.
“Five of the people in quarantine are Papua New Guineans, and one from the Philippines. All six have so far tested negative to the Covid-19. They will be retested after 14 days.”
The ship arrived with a crew of 16, six of whom have tested positive to the Covid-19. Two are admitted in the isolation ward at the Port Moresby General Hospital.
“Four others who tested positive but not showing symptoms are in quarantine on board the ship. The remaining eight crew members are in isolation on the ship.”
The Philippines Embassy in Port Moresby has been advised of the matter.
Daoni said “vaccination is only the solution” to protecting people from the “extremely serious” Covid-19 Delta strain.
He said a recent survey showed that around 60 per cent of the people in PNG were reluctant to be vaccinated.
“The Covid-19 Delta strain is extremely dangerous because of the way it spreads so quickly through the community (as currently witnessed in Australia and Fiji),” he said.
“Then hospitals become quickly overloaded. The only way to not become seriously ill or die from Covid-19 is to be vaccinated.”
He said stricter border control measures had ensured that the case was detected before the Delta strain could spread into the PNG community.
“We will continue to maintain these strict measures – so there will be no changes to border control measures at this point. Ongoing cargo shipping is essential for our economy and goods for our people and businesses,” he said.