Papua New Guinea reported 16 new cases of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Wednesday 3rd January increasing the country’s total cases to 891.

The latest cases were reported In West New Britain and New Ireland provinces. West New Britain reported 15 cases whilst New Ireland reported one positive case.

In West New Britain, 11 male and four female, ages ranging from 19 years to 66 have been tested positive.

Among those tested positive are two pastors, three students, three drivers and a health care worker. Fourteen cases did not show symptoms of COVID-19 at the time of testing whilst one was experiencing cough.

In the New Ireland province, a 44 year old male mine worker has been tested positive. He is currently in isolation while contact tracing is continuing. 

The country's Covid 19 cases as a result stands at 891 with nine known deaths. Seventeen provinces including the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB) have reported cases. The distribution of the cases is as follows:

Provinces Confirmed Cases

NCD 368

Western Province 221

West New Britain 194

East New Britain 30

New Ireland 22

Eastern Highlands 13

Western Highlands 10

Central  10

Morobe 9

East Sepik 3

Enga 3

Milne Bay 2

West Sepik 2

Southern Highlands 1

AROB 1

Hela Province 1

Madang                               1

TOTAL 891

Globally, the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 has reached 102,942,987 lincluding 349,263 new cases reported in the last 24 hours. 

The death toll is 2,232,233 of which 9,423 were reported in the last 24 hours.