CNN :
Reva-Lou Reva is worried. For the first time he can remember, he says hospitals around the Pacific Island nation of Papua New Guinea (PNG) are so overburdened they are closing their doors to patients.
“This is very frightening, to know that you don’t have any medical facilities open, or very limited, and you cannot easily access them because of the restriction,” says Reva, 48, PNG assistant country director of program support for humanitarian non-profit CARE International. “I’m breathless, I can’t explain how difficult it is.”
Until recently, PNG had largely managed to stave off a major coronavirus outbreak. At the end of February, the country had only reported 1,275 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. But over the past month, cases have more than tripled. PNG has now reported at least 4,660 Covid-19 cases and 39 related deaths, including that of MP Richard Mendani, who died age 53 earlier this month, according to a Radio New Zealand report. On Friday, the country reported 560 new infections — its highest for a single day — with Prime Minister James Marape admitting there is “rampant community transmission.”
While those figures might not seem high compared to other countries, they pose a major issue in PNG, where the government says there are only about 500 doctors for an estimated population of 9 million people. At the best of times, the country’s health system is fragile — now NGOs are warning it could be on the “verge of collapse.”
Low testing rates also mean PNG’s case load is likely much higher — something authorities acknowledge. Meanwhile, rampant misinformation in the country means some people are still not taking the threat seriously.
