Monday, 19 April 2021, 1:20 pm
There was a time when it seemed Papua New Guinea had
managed to dodge a bullet. Instances of SARS-CoV-2 were
minimal, along with its disease, COVID-19. Through 2020, the
country of eight million people recorded a mere 900 cases.
The World Health Organization praised
the PNG government in a September 2020 news release in
“taking the threat of the pandemic seriously with an
all-of-government approach in strengthening the country’s
health system and engaging communities to keep them safe
from the virus.”
Officials acknowledged that a spike
in cases could impair the medical system, despite
the fact that three-quarters of the population are under