Australia will donate 8,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Papua New Guinea (PNG) and seek approval for another million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to help Pacific island nation control its recent outbreak, Australian announced Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday.
The country will also send one million surgical masks and 100,000 gowns, gloves and disinfectant, along with 200 non-invasive ventilators and 20,000 face shields to PNG.
This is in the interest of Australia and the interest of our region, ”said Morrison.
Australia will suspend all outbound travel, including charter flights, to PNG for two weeks from midnight Wednesday, Morrison said. Only freight and some humanitarian workers will be exempted.
He also said that workers flying in and out between the two countries should stay where they are. “The escalation of problems with the virus in Papua New Guinea also poses very real risks to Australia,” he said.
Morrison said he has been in touch with his counterpart, PNG Prime Minister James Marape, because the rising number of cases in the country is “very concerning.”
“We helped with some (Covid-19) tests in Papua New Guinea and of the 500 tests that our health authorities did for Papua New Guinea, 250 came back positive,” said Queensland Prime Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk in a press. conference Monday.
On Sunday, PNG reported 97 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 2,269, according to the country’s Ministry of Health.
Five new virus-related deaths were also reported on Sunday, bringing the country’s total death toll to 26, the ministry added.