Papua new Guinea's Health Secretary, Osborne Liko (left) and National Pandemic Response Controller David Manning address a media update about the country's worrying Covid-19 surge. [Source: RNZ]
Papua New Guinea has recorded eleven new COVID-19 deaths, increasing the country’s total number of COVID-related deaths to 51.
The new deaths come as PNG’s total number of infections increases to 5, 205.
Meanwhile, the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine is beginning this week, according to health authorities, with frontline health staff to be prioritized for the jab.
Australia is providing an initial 8000 doses to PNG to help the country deal with the COVID-19 outbreak.
Hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses are expected to arrive in the coming months, although there is significant hesitance over-vaccination among PNG’s public, even including health workers.
