Papua New Guinea's latest Covid-19 case has been reported in Lihir, New Ireland Province increasing the country’s total cases to 844. A 52 year old male, mining supervisor is the latest to be confirmed positive. The mining supervisor was experiencing fever and muscle aches at the time of testing. He is currently in isolation and that contact tracing has commenced. The country’s COVID-19 cases as a result now stands at 844 with nine known deaths. A total of 40,697 people have tested for COVID-19. Eight hundred people have recovered whilst ten samples are pending at the laboratories. Thirty-five active cases are in isolation. Sixteen provinces including the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB) have reported cases. The distribution of the cases is as follows: NCD 367 Western Province 214 West New Britain 162 East New Britain 30 New Ireland 19 Eastern Highlands 13 Western Highlands 10 Central 10 Morobe 6 East Sepik 3 Enga 3 Milne Bay 2 West Sepik 2 Southern Highlands 1 AROB 1 Hela Province 1 TOTAL 844 Globally, the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 has reached 94,124,612 including 312,202 new cases reported in the last 24 hours. The death toll is 2,034,527; of which 8,316 were reported in the last 24 hours. The Controller of the PNG COVID-19 National Pandemic Response and Police Commissioner David Manning today issued 12 new pandemic measures. The new measures are effective today until further notice.

PNG's biggest referral hospital, the Port Moresby General Hospital's mortuary is piled beyond its capacity with unclaimed bodies and requires additional space to accommodate for more bodies that are brought in daily. The need for space is not the hospitals only concern, the morgues deteriorating state has worsened overtime and needs the urgent attention from responsible authorities. The mortuary is already overcrowded with 220 bodies waiting to be claimed by relatives and given proper burials. The morgue has a holding capacity of 120 bodies. Director for Medical Services at the Port Moresby General Hospital Dr Kone Sobi took the media on a tour of the morgue today to show to the public and the relevant authorities’ one of Port Moresby’s biggest problem that is eating away the hospital’s finances which should be put towards other key facilities in the hospital. Dr Sobi said the hospital conducts mass burials three to four times a year which costs the hospital K30, 000 per mass burial. “It’s costing the hospital a lot of money to do mass burials because these bodies are not picked up for up to 12 months” The hospital has at least over 40 unclaimed bodies and body parts that are waiting for relatives to give them a proper burial. Dr Sobi said it is unbecoming as Melanesians not bury loved ones and let them rot away in the morgue. “The deceased are placed in the morgue and they are not claimed.” “When you have your deceased in the morgue, do the honourable thing.” “Come pick up your bodies, give them a decent burial and send them off.” He is now appealing to the public to come forward and claim bodies of their loved ones and ease the burden on the hospital. Dr Sobi said the hospital morgue has two chillers, however one is out of order which has forced them to stack up bodies in the extra three refrigerator containers that can only hold up to 20 bodies each. “This is a risk to the morgue staff, to the surrounding communities and also to our specialist who conduct autopsies” Dr Sobi said they have temporarily stopped doing autopsies since August last year until they can rectify the current condition of the morgue. The Mortuary is over 30 years old built by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and since, then the hospital management have been trying to maintain the mortuary over the years, however the aging facility needs an overhaul with the increase of dead bodies. Dr Sobi one behalf of the hospital is calling on the relevant authorities to assist in any way at all to find a solution to this problem that will affect the whole city if the other functioning chiller ceases to operate. Meanwhile Officer in Charge of the Morgue Albert Tole said they receive up to 19 bodies everyday which is a lot of bodies for the morgue to hold. “We put two bodies in one tray and if all those trays are occupied then we don’t have a choice but the family of the deceased are forced to take the decease to funeral home which will cost them some money” He said the unclaimed bodies from September last are still there at the morgue which includes at least ten infants. “We have bodies of more than ten infants here still at morgue and it is really heart breaking for me when their relatives especially their parents are not turning up to claim their bodies.” As a staff of the morgue, Mr Tole hopes authorities can assist in extending the morgue or rebuilding a bigger one that can be able to cater for the city population and even outside provinces like Gulf and Central province.

The OFC U-17 Championship and OFC U-20 Championship tournaments have been postponed but remain on track to take place this year. The events were originally meant to be played in 2020 as qualifiers for the FIFA U-17 and FIFA U-20 World Cups but were delayed due to travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.  Last month, FIFA cancelled the FIFA U-17 World Cup that was meant to be held in Peru in October and the FIFA U-20 World Cup that was set for Indonesia in May-June.  Given OFC’s youth tournaments are a key element of its long-term strategy to qualify two teams for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OFC’s Executive Committee has agreed to try and exhaust all possible options to play them in 2021.  All of OFC’s tournaments have been on hold since March 2020 due to the global pandemic and ongoing border restrictions throughout the Pacific.  If the youth events can go ahead this year, the original hosts will be retained with Fiji holding the OFC U-17 Championship and Samoa staging the OFC U-20 Championship.  A decision around potential new dates for the tournaments will be decided by OFC’s Executive Committee in the coming months.  OFC General Secretary Franck Castillo said it was vital to give our region’s youth footballers the opportunity to play in these events.  “The players who take part in these tournaments could potentially progress to represent their senior national team and we want to ensure they have as many chances as possible to play in meaningful, competitive matches at youth level,” Castillo said.  “We thank the Executive Committee for their vision and patience regarding these tournaments and we hope we can hold them safely at the appropriate time.”  The OFC U-16 Women’s Championship and OFC U-19 Women’s Championship events also remain on track to be held later this year.  Those tournaments will serve as qualifiers for the next editions of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup and the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup that are due to be played in 2022.  Source: PNG Football Association

Police Commissioner David Manning has apologised to the Ombudsman Commission over the events of last Friday in which Chief Ombudsman Richard Pagen and a number of his staff were detained at the Boroko Police Station. This event culminated from an administrative oversight in the handling of a District Court warrant on an ongoing high-level case currently subjected to the constitutional process of investigation. It was reported that police detectives from the NCD Metro Fraud had gone over to the Ombudsman Commission office with members of a Fox Unit to serve a search warrant to “retrieve, seize and confiscate” all documents relating to the Manumanu Land Deal. Ombudsman Commission staff including Mr Pagen were then allegedly cited for perverting the course of justice and taken to the police station. They were later released without being charged. Chief Ombudsman Richard Pagen Picture sourced: ombudsman.gov.pg Mr Manning regretted the unfortunate incident, saying the Police Force and the Ombudsman had always had a very good cordial working relationship. He said the Police Force has an operational duty including execution of search and arrests warrants, and their legal obligation to arrest in the event of police obstruction. “We have established processes and procedural guidelines with regards to police investigations. These processes and guidelines ensure that our conduct cannot be questioned." “In this instance there were fundamental flaws in the manner in which the search warrant was obtained, including jurisdiction of the courts in the issuance of the search warrant, as well as in the service of the search warrant itself. Police men and women are not constitutional lawyers, hence are not subjected to full and self-interpreting of court documents to identify flaws." “What transpired is rather unfortunate and was done so without the knowledge of either myself or the various commanders including the Acting Deputy Commissioner Donald Yamasombi, Assistant Commissioner Crimes Hodges Ette, Director Crimes Joel Simatap and the NCD/Central Command. Mr Manning again expressed his apologies to Mr Pagen and the staff of the Ombudsman Commission and promised for a better understanding and working relationship going forward. Mr Manning said, “In fact we respect each other and have worked well together in the past and will continue to do so now and into the future in the dispensation of justice. “I have since issued directives for the investigation to immediately cease, all files on the investigation to be made available to my office and members involved in the investigation to be immediately stood down pending a full investigation into this incident.”

The newly appointed Metropolitan Superintendent for NCD , Acting Chief Superintendent Gideon Ikumu says he will not deviate from performing his established duties as the city's top cop, despite allegations levelled against him. "The welfare and safety of the people of NCD is greater and upon me," said Mr Ikumu. Acting Chief Superintendent Ikumu addressed the media in Port Moresby clarifying certain allegations against him during his term as Provincial Police Commander in New Ireland "to set the records straight" Ikumu said allegations of an assault and a motor vehicle accident in New Ireland took place while he was PPC in the province and both matters have been dealt with accordingly. He said the motor vehicle accident is still before the district court in New Ireland and resumes again in March. He was charged for dangerous driving causing death while the assault case was an "administrative matter" which was resolved away from the public eye. "For the assault case, it was a matter of command and control at the station. I approached a police officer because of something he did," said Ikumu. "He came too close to me within my private space, trying to measure up to me. I pushed him, he fell a step back and hit the table. And that was the complaint that he was assaulted by me." Ikumu said, "these allegations and speculations will still arise later on so it's better to speak now than later. So I want these cleared out before I start to lay out my plans on what I want to do in NCD."

Two female health workers are among eight new cases of COVID-19 reported in West New Britain and NCD in the last 24 hours increasing the country’s total cases to 843. Two cases were reported in NCD whilst six cases were reported in West New Britain. In NCD, 58 year old female health care worker who resides in Moresby South electorate was tested positive. She was not experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 virus but swab samples returned positive. Also living in Moresby South was a 28 year old male who was tested positive. He was showing symptoms of fever at the time of testing. In West New Britain, a female nurse, a female teacher, a male boat crew and a male airport employee are among the six cases tested positive for COVID-19. All six cases, two female and four male, ages ranging from 23 to 63 years are from Talasea district. They were not experiencing COVID-19 symptoms at the time of testing but swab samples returned positive. The country’s COVID-19 cases as a result now stands at 843 with nine known deaths. A total of 40,697 people have tested for COVID-19. Eight hundred people have recovered whilst 16 samples are pending at the laboratories. Thirty-four active cases are in isolation. Sixteen provinces including the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB) have reported cases. The distribution of the cases is as follows: NCD 367 Western Province 214 West New Britain 162 East New Britain 30 New Ireland 18 Eastern H/lands 13 Western H/lands 10 Central 10 Morobe 6 East Sepik 3 Enga 3 Milne Bay 2 West Sepik 2 Southern H/lands 1 AROB 1 Hela Province 1 TOTAL 843 Globally, the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 has reached 93,805,612 including 588,325 new cases reported in the last 24 hours. The death toll is 2,026,093; of which 11, 136 were reported in the last 24 hours.

Reckless behavior by police in the Central Province had landed a Kerema man at the Port Moresby General Hospital who is now receiving medical treatment after sustaining a bullet wound to his right leg. It was alleged that Police Officers from Laloki Police Station in Central Province fired close range shots at a 25 seater PMV bus and its passengers, on Monday night wounding the victim in the leg, while they were travelling to Port Moresby along the Hiritano Highway. "It was a moment of death for me personally," recalled the terrified bus crew Peter Kinamun when an officer pointed the gun in his face. Four police officers allegedly stopped the PMV bus at a place called Rupuroka Tulait Market within the Laloki vicinity and assaulted the driver and the bus crew. Kinamun said they were travelling from Kerema towards the Rupuroka Tuklait market in the dark when all of a sudden a vehicle that was hidden just within the market put on their spot light. Peter said they thought they were local hunters on a routine hunt for wallabies and continued to drive when they realized they were been chased down by the vehicle and ordered to stop. “We recognised the vehicle which was a single cab Toyota Hilux that belonged to the Laloki police so we stopped as instructed by them.” He said three police men in civilian clothes stepped out and took the driver’s licence, the crew permit and then ordered everyone to come out of the bus. “We didn’t see the fourth police officer hiding in the dark with the gun, we only saw the three police men who were standing in the light.” “One of the three officers started punching the driver while the driver was trying to explain to them that he did not see any road signs to signal a police road block so he drove passed them.” “While they continued to punch the driver, the fourth police officer came out from the dark and landed the butt of the gun on the drivers face knocking him to the ground.” “When the police man with the gun saw me standing behind the driver, he cocked the gun and pointed it right on my face. I stepped back and realised there was no way to run so I thought to myself, this is the day I die.” "I told the police man, I have done nothing wrong but if you are going to kill me than go ahead and do it , and I raised my hand up to surrender.” The police man then lowered the gun and swore at them and told them to get in the bus and leave. “As we were rushing the passengers to get in the bus while the police men kept swearing and yelling at us, the officer with the gun fired the first shot which came through the glass bringing the glass on the door down.” “He then fired the second shot at close range which penetrated through the metal covering of the bus and straight into a passenger’s leg, completely damaging the leg and the same bullet just lightly tipped my knee cap which burnt my skin.” “I felt a burning sensation on my knee and I looked down and saw some blood so I rubbed my knee to be sure the bullet didn’t get me.” "At that very moment, I got emotional and yelled at the police men and told them off; is this what your bosses tell you to do? To shoot at unarmed civilians!” “When I looked down, the passenger that got shot was bleeding very badly and he passed out so we quickly got on the bus and drove off with the same police officers tailing us from behind” “We couldn’t slow down as the bleeding was getting worse so we just sped off as fast as we could to the hospital without second thoughts if they followed us or not.” The owner of the PMV bus Mr Kelly Kinamun was shocked and disappointed at the manner in which police officers opened fire at unarmed civilians for no good reason. Kinamun said his bus was only six weeks old and there was nothing wrong with the bus nor the crew and the driver. He expressed his utmost frustration at the actions of the few police men that spoil the name of other good police officers almost killing an innocent passenger and endangering the lives of the others. “I don’t know why they stopped the bus, assaulted the driver and then decided to shoot at close range injuring an innocent person.” “The crew had his permit, the driver had his license, no one was drinking and the bus is fully registered so I fail to understand the police men’s behaviour,” Mr Kinamun said. He said police can only fire shots like that when there is danger and not just pulling the trigger unnecessarily in front of unarmed civilians. “You fire a gun when there is a life and death situation, not at a group of harmless passengers who were on their way to Port Moresby to sell their crabs,” Mr Kinamun said. He said that if the passenger had died, his innocent family back home could have suffered the loss at the hands of rogue officers. “I feel sorry for the poor guy who caught the bullet, he did not deserve that and I’m relieved that he made it to the hospital on time, however his leg looks really bad and could be amputated if serious. ” Mr Kinamun said rogue police officers don’t deserve to be on the Force and should be removed at the first instance of such misconduct to protect the other law abiding and hardworking police officers. “I would like to suggest to the Police Commissioner to remove these police officer from the Force if they cannot substantiate their actions for the shooting.” Mr Kinamun is yet to establish the cost of damage done to his bus but in the meantime, he has filed reports at the Central Police Head Quarters for investigation to take place. The Central Police have also confirmed this incident and they have started preliminary investigations with the Internal Investigation Unit visiting the crime scene area and collecting statements from witnesses.

People on the mining island of Misima in the Milne Bay Province will resort to sea transport as the only alternative transport means to get into the provincial capital, Alotau. This is following an announcement by airline company PNG Air to cease flights into Misima. PNG Air regrets to advise the general public that their flights into Misima Island, have ceased indefinitely and its due to poor conditions of the Bwagaoia runway in Misima. The cancellation of flights was effective on Monday 18th January 2021 and until such time when the runway is in compliance with Civil Aviation Rule Part 121 Operations, flights are cancelled. "We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding." For further information, please call the call center on 7411 2644.

Papua New Guinea reported one new case of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the last 24 hours increasing the country’s total cases to 835. The latest case was reported in Western Province. A 42 year old male mine worker who resides in Tabubil, North Fly district is the latest to be tested positive. He was not showing symptoms of COVID-19 at the time of testing but swab samples returned positive. The country’s COVID-19 cases as a result now stands at 835 with nine known deaths. A total of 40,697 people have tested for COVID-19. Seven hundred and ninety people have recovered whilst 16 samples are pending at the laboratories. Thirty-six active cases are in isolation. Sixteen provinces including the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB) have reported cases. The distribution of the cases is as follows: Provinces Confirmed Cases NCD 365 Western Province 214 West New Britain 156 East New Britain 30 New Ireland 18 Eastern Highlands 13 Western Highlands 10 Central 10 Morobe 6 East Sepik 3 Enga 3 Milne Bay 2 West Sepik 2 Southern Highlands 1 AROB 1 Hela Province 1 TOTAL 835 Globally, the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 has reached 92,596,811 including 688,015 new cases reported in the last 24 hours. The death toll is 2,001,773; of which 14, 718 were reported in the last 24 hours.

Supermodel, Joylene Tanfa has joined the PNG Fashion Week 2021 management team to add experience and value to the PNG Fashion Week 2021 Runway. Ms Tanfa joined PNG Fashion Week as a model coach, mentor and one of the stars of the PNG Fashion Weeks 2021 campaign. "I believe that it is our life purpose to help others. Being given the opportunity from PNGFW to help mentor these young models has been an absolute pleasure. I am excited to share my talent and experiences and would love to see where my mentorship takes them to in their modeling career." said Joylene Managing Director and owner of PNG Fashion Week, Ms Philma Kelegai said that they are excited to have her join the team. Ms Tanfa is a rising star, having started her modelling career on the iconic Stella Runway Show in 2016, she has gone on to grace many other Stellar Runways and has been one of the international models at the International Fashion Week hosted at the Pearl in Fiji in 2019. "At the end of my training, I can assure you that you are definitely going to see more confident models with good attitude and stage presence grace the fashion week and other platforms in regards to modeling." Apart from being fierce and fabulous, Miss Tanfa was recently one of the faces of the 2019 Kina Bank campaign and also has moved into the world of competitive boxing, joining the ‘Tru Warrior’ team – a local Health and Fitness group that promotes healthy lifestyles.

A suspect involved in the K1.2 million heist at the Jackson's Airport in 2016 was recaptured on Saturday after escaping for the second time last year. Joel Taha Ruana alias Taberi aged 40 from Wasuma village, Rigo in the Central Province, is one of five suspects involved in robbing a logging company pay run at the Tropic Air hanger at the Jacksons Airport in 2016. Four of his accomplices were arrested, charged and are now serving jail time at the Bomana prison. Joel escaped from lawful custody in 2016, was recaptured in 2019 but escaped again in 2020. Commander of NCD Central Assistant Commissioner Anthony Wagambie Junior said, members of the NCD Armed Robbery Squad received a tip-off and they followed a PMV carrying Joel from Waigani to Downtown. Joel disembarked and was having lunch with a female companion when a detective walked into the restaurant and arrested him at gun point. In the commotion, the woman slipped away and could not be arrested. Mr Wagambie praised his team for recapturing this dangerous criminal. Commander of NCD Central Assistant Commissioner Anthony Wagambie Junior Source: POLICE - NCD/Central Divisional Command FB page

People in Porgera will continue to benefit from much needed Health Services which will continue at the Porgera District Hospital despite Porgera Gold Mine in Enga Province not making or selling gold in more than seven months, with the mining giants continued support to health services in Porgera District. This time, Mine operator Barrick (Niugini) Limited (“BNL”) is accommodating nursing students from the Enga College of Nursing in Sopas, Wabag, who are currently on a four-week clinical practice at the Porgera District Hospital. The Hospital’s General Surgeon and Acting Medical Superintendent Dr Jerry Hoga had requested for the accommodation. The 10 final year students, accompanied by their Instructor Jerick Laganson, the College’s Clinical Coordinator Sister (Sr) Grace Job, arrived at Paiam on 7 January. They were received by a team from the Mine, and the Hospital’s Acting Matron Sr Miriam Kikil. BNL Manager for Community Land Access Agreements Trevor Liversidge, gave the keys for three Company houses, to Sr Kikil.    Sr Kikil said the Hospital has had staffing issues, and so the arrival of the students brought short term relief for the Hospital staff.  Sr. Miriam Kikil, Acting Matron, Porgera District Hospital At the Hospital, the students were placed in different areas to apply their clinical theoretical learnings into the clinical setup. “We are really happy that most of the staffs here are actually helping the students on the ground,” Mr Laganson said.“Without you guys, we’ll not be…have a good hand here. So thank you very much for this accommodation as well as the practice of clinical application into the hospital as well, thank you so much,” he said. The Enga College of Nursing at Sopas, was established in 2013, offering diploma and degree programs in general nursing. The first intake in 2014 graduated in 2017, and to date there had been four graduations. The Bachelor in Nursing program only started last year.To date, more than 105 students have passed through the College, with new intakes notably increasing every year.