Masks

The Ministry of Health Chief Executive Officer, Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola said, “The N95 masks are the best type of masks. And the material can filter out the virus. You can even use that to protect against the delta (variant).”

Medical Superintendent, Dr ‘Ana ‘Akau’ola was also grateful for the donation.

 “It’s not like the surgical masks. We have N95, but they are very bulky and hard to wear,” she said.

The masks were organized by Tonga’s Honorary Consul in Sydney, Louise Waterhouse and shipped to Tonga by Rotary yesterday.

James Marape's announcement takes the total number of cases confirmed in PNG so far to 27, over half of them having emerged in the past week.

Most of the new cases are health workers at Port Moresby General Hospital where all non-essential services have now been suspended.

This week, a terminally ill patient with advanced cancer who died at the hospital was found by a post-mortem examination to have had the coronavirus.

Earlier the government announced a cluster outbreak at the Central Public Health Laboratory on the hospital premises.

His comments came after the country's top infectious disease expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, urged state and local leaders to be "as forceful as possible" in getting people to wear masks.

Wearing face coverings, Dr Fauci added, is "really important" and "we should be using them, everyone".

The wearing of face coverings has become highly politicised in the US.

New York has been hit hard by coronavirus, with more than 3,500 deaths and the number of recorded cases exceeding 113,000.

In collaboration with the Knicks, Nets and Huang, the NBA is moving to help New York's workers.

"The @NBA is contributing 1 million desperately needed surgical masks for New York's essential workers in collaboration with @nyknicks, @BrooklynNets and China's Consul General Huang Ping," governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

"New York thanks you. We are beyond grateful for this gift of critically needed PPE."