Coronavirus

Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Marise Payne, says it is a challenge the Australian government is committed to tackling with its Pacific partners, in the long-term interest of the stability, prosperity and resilience of the region.

“Prime Minister Morrison told G20 leaders on 26 March that the Pacific needed to be a focus of international support. As the world’s economies, large and small, grapple with a pandemic that does not recognise national borders, cooperation will be critical,” she stated.

The other countries are the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu.

The countries will receive the following grant amounts, which will enable them to kickstart their disaster response plans: $470,000 for FSM; $370,000 for the Marshall Islands; $320,000 for Nauru; and $370,000 for Tuvalu.

The rapidly increasing demand on health facilities and health care workers threatens to leave some health systems overstretched and unable to operate effectively.

Previous outbreaks have demonstrated that when health systems are overwhelmed, mortality from vaccine-preventable and other treatable conditions can also increase dramatically. During the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak, the increased number of deaths caused by measles, malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis attributable to health system failures exceeded deaths from Ebola [1,2]. 

Income losses are expected to exceed $220 billion in developing countries, and nearly half of all jobs in Africa could be lost. With an estimated 55 per cent of the global population having no access to social protection, these losses will reverberate across societies, impacting education, human rights and, in the most severe cases, basic food security and nutrition.

Why? Washing your hands with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand rub kills viruses that may be on your hands.

Maintain social distancing

Maintain at least 1 metre (3 feet) distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing.

Why? When someone coughs or sneezes they spray small liquid droplets from their nose or mouth which may contain virus. If you are too close, you can breathe in the droplets, including the COVID-19 virus if the person coughing has the disease.

Smokers may also already have lung disease or reduced lung capacity which would greatly increase risk of serious illness.

Smoking products such as water pipes often involve the sharing of mouth pieces and hoses, which could facilitate the transmission of COVID-19 in communal and social settings.

It is not a new network. The name change attempts to reinforce the Health Department’s messages about practicing basic hygiene and is part of the company’s efforts in helping PNG battle COVID-19.

Around 1.5 million handsets will notice this change while others may not as this depends on the type of handset.

The company hopes that when users look at their handsets, they will be reminded to wash their hands.