SYDNEY, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Papua New Guinea's (PNG) total COVID-19 cases have reached 110, with 19 more cases recorded on Sunday.
PNG's National Pandemic Controller David Manning said most of the new cases were found in the nation's capital of Port Moresby and one was from the country's second biggest city of Lae.
"While the capital remains the focal point of PNG's surge of confirmed COVID-19 cases in recent days, another new case was reported today from Lae," Manning said.
Manning described the increasing rate of new cases as alarming.
"Seventeen days ago, we announced the 13th case after no case was detected for a month. This is an increase of 98 cases in just 17 days and this is very concerning," he said.
According to Manning, the pandemic has put great pressure on PNG's already stretched medical resources, with the Rita Flynn Isolation Centre in the capital already reaching its maximum capacity of 70.
PNG's National Control Centre Incident Manager Dr. Daoni Esorom said they are now working on turning Taurama Aquatic Centre in Port Moresby into a field hospital with 300 extra beds to help cope with the situation.
Officials have also ramped up testing around the capital area and conducted 10,471 tests so far. Enditem
