Papua New Guinea

Australia's Human Rights Law Centre says the Australian Government must ensure the safety of people it is detaining in Papua New Guinea. It said it was making the call as PNG's Pandemic Response Controller warned a coronavirus outbreak could overwhelm the health system within days. There are currently more than 175 people in PNG and 185 in Nauru detained under Australia's offshore detention scheme.

Four new confirmed covid-19 cases in Papua New Guinea come from staff in the main labatory that tests for the virus. The country's Health Secretary, Dr Paison Dakulala, announced the cases in PNG's capital, taking the total confirmed cases in PNG so far to fifteen. The Post Courier reports that all four cases are staff members at the Central Public Health Laboratory at Port Moresby General Hospital.

A senior researcher in Papua New Guinea has emphasised that government moves to deter domestic violence need to be effective at a provincial and village level. The government this month introduced harsher penalties for gender-based and sorcery accusation-related, following the recent violent death of 19-year-old mother Jenelyn Kennedy.

Life is returning to normal in Papua New Guinea this week with the end of the Covid 19 State of Emergency. But some things are still restricted. PNG's Emergency Covid-19 Act lapsed on Tuesday and schools are now allowed to revert to normal classes, churches can conduct services again and sporting activities can resume. However the passage of the National Pandemic Act last week means international flights and border crossings are still banned.

A bill is expected to be tabled in Papua New Guinea's Parliament this week on measures to be taken once the State of Emergency comes to an end as scheduled today. Prime Minister James Marape said the government had been advised by technical and health experts to extend the Covid-19 national emergency but it was considering other options.

A 10pm to 5am curfew in Papua New Guinea's National Capital District and Central Province has been lifted. The curfew had been in place in Port Moresby and its surrounding region for around a month as part of PNG's state of emergency provisions in response to Covid-19. The NBC reports Emergency Controller David Manning saying markets, pharmacies, hotels and restaurants, banks, supermarkets and licensed wholesalers are allowed to trade.

The United Nations is scaling up its support for Papua New Guinea's Covid-19 response. The UN's resident coordinator in PNG, Gianluca Rampolla, said UN agencies, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Development Project (UNDP), were providing strategic and operational support, as well as essential medical supplies.

Steven Kari has won the Pacific's first gold medal of the Commonwealth Games with a record-breaking lift on the Gold Coast. Defending the men's 94kg weightlifting title he won in Glasgow, the Papua New Guinean trailed Canada's Boady Santavy by 14kgs after the snatch. But he responded in stunning fashion to lift 216kg in the clean and jerk, shattering the Commonwealth record by six kilograms and the Games record by 11 in a dramatic finish at Carrara Sports Arena.

Papua New Guinea have won a second silver medal in weightlifting at the Commonwealth Games. Dika Toua was unable to repeat her gold medal performance from four years ago, lifting a total of 182kg in the women's 53kg division, to finish 10kg adrift of India's Sanjita Chanu Khumukcham.

Papua New Guinea's Morea Baru has won the Pacific's first medal of the Commonwealth Games. But the weightlifter said a silver medal on the Gold Coast fell below his expectations. Baru lifted a combined total of 286kgs, two kilograms shy of the gold medallist Muhamad Bidin from Malaysia. The 27-year-old fell short with a final attempt at 163kg in the clean and jerk, which would have put him back in front.