PNG records second COVID-19 death as virus spreads outside capital
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E-mail Xinhua, July 29, 2020
SYDNEY, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Papua New Guinea (PNG) has recorded its second COVID-19 death, as the virus was detected for the first time in the country's second largest city, Lae, local newspaper Post Courier reported on Wednesday.
Deputy Pandemic Controller of PNG, Dr Paison Dakulala confirmed that the latest victim was a 35-year-old male who passed away in the national capital of Port Moresby.
Meanwhile, health authorities in Morobe Province confirmed the first COVID-19 case for the city of Lae, roughly 300 km from the capital Port Moresby.
The patient was a 37-year-old male who attended a workshop in Port Moresby and flew into Lae on Sunday, before testing positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, according to the Morobe provincial health authority.
Case numbers in PNG have roughly doubled in the past week to over 60, with Prime Minister James Marape saying that the number was expected to grow significantly as more testing was conducted.
Local health authorities were carrying out contract tracing on the infected patient in Lae and continued to ramp up testing in Port Moresby. Enditem
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