Under new rules in Papua New Guinea, any foreign national who is unvaccinated against Covid-19 will not be allowed entry into the country
Photo: Koro Vaka'uta / RNZ
It's one of a raft of new measures introduced by the head of PNG's National Pandemic Response, Police Commissioner David Manning
Other measures include new quarantine periods for incoming persons.
The requirement is seven days quarantine for incoming persons who are fully vaccinated and 14 days quarantine for partially vaccinated persons.
PNG citizens and permanent residents who are unvaccinated are to be quarantined for 21 days.
There are also Covid testing requirements of incoming people.
If an individual refuses to be tested, Manning said they will be quarantined for an additional 14 days.
PNG has also reinforced measures on domestic travel, with no person allowed to travel between provinces if symptomatic for Covid.
Furthermore, travellers are subject to health checks, and each province has the doscretion to require all incomnig persons to be tested for Covid.
Manning said that due to the increased threat of the Covid-19 Delta variant all PNG provinces were now classified as a medium risk.
He said it was the responsibility of Provincial Health Authorities to advise Provincial Administrators as to what their risk of COVID-19 is on a weekly basis.
The Provincial Administrator is then required to communicate this to the Controller who will make the final decision to classify a province from a medium risk to a high risk.
PNG Pandemic Response Controller, David Manning Photo: EMTV
Manning has classified the two provinces on the border with Inodnesia, Western Province and Sandaun (West Sepik) as High-Risk Provinces.
Western Province is already struggling with a surge in deaths due to delta cases in recent weeks.
