Papua New Guinea reported 63 new cases of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Thursday 4^th of March, increasing the country’s total cases to 1,492.

The latest cases were reported in Morobe province, West Sepik, East Sepik, Western Province and in the National Capital District.

Six cases were reported in the Morobe province in which four were males and two females, ages ranging from 14 to 53 years old. Five of the six cases were showing symptoms of COVID-19 whilst one was asymptomatic at the time of testing. Five of the six cases have come into contact with previous known cases.

West Sepik reported seven new cases in which six are females and one is a male with ages ranging from 26 to 53 years. One out of the seven cases was experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 whilst the other six were asymptomatic at the time of testing.

Four cases were reported in East Sepik of which two are males and two are females between the ages of 28 to 59 years old. All four cases were experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 at the time of testing.

Two new cases were reported in the Western province. The youngest of the two cases is 11 years old whilst the oldest is 23. Both cases are reported to have come into contact with previous known cases.

NCD reported 44 cases of which 26 are males and 18 females. The youngest of them is 25-years old whilst the oldest is 65. Thirty cases were experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 whilst 14 cases were asymptomatic at the time of testing. Eight of the 44 reported cases have come into contact with previous known cases.

The country’s COVID-19 cases as a result stands at 1,492 with 16 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                                           600

Western Province                      325

West New Britain                       196

West Sepik                                 148

AROB                                         39

East New Britain                         38

Madang                                      35

New Ireland                                23

Morobe                                       22

Western Highlands                     18

Central                                       14

Eastern Highlands                      13

East Sepik                                  13

SHP                                             3

Enga                                            3

Milne Bay                                     2

Hela                                             1

TOTAL                                       1,492

Globally, the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 has reached 114,428,211 including 348,281 new cases reported in the last 24 hours. The death toll is 2,543,755 of which 7,807 were reported in the last 24 hours.