SYDNEY, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- The South Pacific Island country Papua New Guinea recorded 11 new cases in the last 24 hours Wednesday evening, bringing the total confirmed cases to 471, including 232 recovered, five dead and 234 being active.
Among the new cases, two were from the West New Britain Province. It is one of the provinces that had not sent samples for testing last month and this is the first time for it to record people test positive.
The authority has since commenced contact-tracing of the two cases. The other nine cases were reported in the National Capital District.
At the same time, Controller of the National Pandemic Response David Manning said at a press conference Tuesday that more than half of the people tested positive for coronavirus have not shown any signs and symptoms.
"This indicates that many people are carrying the virus and unknowingly spreading the virus to their families, friends and other people in the communities," he said.
"Everyone is at risk of contracting COVID-19 because you cannot tell whether people around you are infected or not until they have been tested."
Manning urged people to avoid big public gathering such as sports events and night clubs, and adhere to health measures including wearing masks where physical distancing is not possible and maintain self hygiene.
"Remember, we have vulnerable populations in our community - old people and people with other health issues like diabetes and heart problems. They are likely to get very sick if they catch COVID-19. We must protect them," Manning said. Enditem
