Govt: Clear and Precise Response to Coronavirus Implication on Education Calendar

A response to our question Will PNG School Close Because of Coronavirus? The comments are from the senior educationist and former Education Secretary Dr Michael Tapo EdD. 

Valuable insight into the likely impacts of Coronavirus on Education and what can be done...

Foremost, before discussing closing the schools or not to close, think about the interconnectedness of the economy, social, educational, trade, technology, scientific knowledge, and many challenges of Papua New Guinea as a country and its people.

Paying the teachers while they are not working, school time calendar, examinations, public views and comments, and others are just as pertinent before a final decision is made.

Coronavirus: Interdepartmental communication

Coronavirus matter is a 'national disaster' and not regular health and hygiene matter. 

Current law allows health and education officials such as the two departmental heads to communicate and reach the verdict. 

Next, the National Education Board decides the final outcome. The Education Minister is advised who then, as the Minister responsible, informs the NEC to close or not to close.

Legislative responses and disaster management 

Beyond the decision to close the schools is that there are serious considerations by the Parliament. The members of government and opposition should join forces to legislate laws for the Coronavirus as a national disaster. This must be immediate and urgent because of its massive great consequences.

This virus will wipe out a percentage of our people once they are infected and spreads widely. Papua New Guinea absorptive capacity right now cannot control the spread of virus amongst members of communities, at the village, districts, rural areas and towns. 

Coronavirus is a matter of life and death to every member of Papua New Guinean society as a nation. 

Coronavirus management efforts overseas 

For instance, the developed countries like UK, USA, Australia, France, Italy, Singapore, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, China and South Korea and many others have taken quick actions. 

These nations, their politicians, virus medical experts and scientists are spending every day to find ways to fight against the Coronavirus. 

They recommend clear and precise laws and policies for members of the public and its total citizens to understand and comply.

Coronavirus cannot be treated to date. It may take at least two to three years to find the dine to cure it completely. Worldwide 200,000 are infected. 8,000 people as of today's date have died.

No one, and I stress no one, is immune to Coronavirus. There is no cure for this virus. It is passed on from persons-to-persons.

Social media information can cause confusion and panic as experienced by the countries mentioned above.

Legislative responses – urgent 

I recommend authorities and leaders in responsible positions from the Health Department, Provincial Government, Organic Law, Education Act, and Parliamentary Acts are diligent. 

This virus has massive nation-wide consequences and challenges the application, implementation and implications of these regulations.

New laws must be approved to deal with this virus. The only Directive must be from the government and no one else.

Closing schools - decision

In the case of the decision to close the school, the new law must be introduced alongside 'National Disaster” law to realistically control the Coronavirus Pandemic.

ABC website is recommended for Papua New Guinea policymakers, health officials, hospitals, governors of provinces and school authorities, radio and TV stations to have access to 

• the latest evidence-based information, 
• the types of the required new legislation, and 
• the questions of what, when, how and where, the national and provincial government can and or cannot do.

The comment was updated for easy reading. Published with permission from the writer.

RECOMMENDED READING: 

Schools Shutdown due to Coronavirus COVID-2019

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Prime minister, summon the heads of state agencies and amenities together: water, power, telecom, transport, security...

Put in place an emergency plan in cases of complete shut down and isolation...how to get the basic amemnities going and keep the towns and cities safe.

— P.N.G. Insight (@PNG_Insight) March 19, 2020

Schools Shutdown due to Coronavirus COVID-2019

Schools in New Zealand, Australia and Fiji are taking measures to address the spread of the coronavirus in the event that cases are detected near the pupils and people they are in contact with.

IMAGE: Coronavirus-map 2020

Major news reports have indicated that schools in Japan, the US, the UK and the Pacific are talking about measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus among children.

In fact, moves were made to shut down schools amid coronavirus detection. 

IMAGE: MAIL ONLINE UK

The Nine News reported that two schools have shut down in Australia due to confirmed cases of coronavirus among their students, (St Patrick's Marist College and Willoughby Girls School corona shut down, Nine News). 

Coronavirus safety measures

There are certain prevention measures individuals can take to make it safe for themselves and others around them. This includes:

• washing hands thoroughly - refer to the hand-washing technique below
• keeping your distance from others - recommended 1 to 2 metres apart
• avoid using publicly shared items like lime/kambang and especially money notes and coins - resort to using cards as much as possible at this time
• limit attendance to public gatherings and public places where there is a large number of incoming and outgoing traffic such as airports and bus stops. 

Above all, look out for each other, the elderly and children. 

UPDATED: Will school close because of coronavirus?

PNG Schools, communities and coronavirus watch

Remoteness and less outside contact is the best friend for PNG schools. In villages and outstations, the population have less contact with outsiders. 

That makes it fairly safe.

But, many towns and cities have contact with travellers coming in from Port Moresby, Lae and other tourist hotspots in the country are among the risk group. And, they are likely to spread the virus to local communities and school children.

Having said that, the local communities need to have some kind of Community Watch for people who are travelling into the local villages and communities from the major centres.

There is no need for fear.

However, a concerted effort to contain the spread of coronavirus in villages and remote communities is urgent.

School and community hygiene and coronavirus   - important

Perhaps it is important to limit contact with others as a measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus if/when a case happens to surface in the country and in a local area.

Meanwhile, there are basic health and hygiene practices students can do to stay safe from coronavirus in schools. Among them is washing hands with soap whilst singing “Happy Birthday to Me’.

Wash you hands lyrics and infographics online

If you want to sing to your favourite song, check this brilliant website called WashYourHandsLyrics. Basically, you type the song title/singer name and the app puts the lyrics onto the NHS handwashing infographics. 

Right now the Bohemian Rhapsody is popular. Check out these PNG Unity songs to create your own infographics and lyrics. 

The high-risk group – kids and elderly

The coronavirus COVID-2019 related deaths recorded are among the elderly people and school (younger) children. This group needs attention. 

The elderly and young children may not be the likely group to have had vast exposure to the public and hence exposed to coronavirus. But, they can be infected through a family member or others close to them who may have had exposure to coronavirus, COVID-2019.

Therefore, able-bodied people need to take preventative measures seriously to prevent any spread of the virus to their household.

Everyone needs to take care of each other.

School shutdown due to coronavirus - no need to panic

There is NO case of confirmed coronavirus in PNG. A FAKE online map showed a red mark on PNG map. 

No need to believe it.

Unless the local PNG health authorities mentioned a case of coronavirus in PNG, there is absolutely no need to panic.

Schools are not shutting down in PNG. Students are going to schools and teachers are teaching. However, it is better to have contingency plans in place. 

That means that the school Board and managers should have a ‘list of things to do’ if/when there is a corona-case detected nearby.

So, planning for school shutdown should be happening: what to do, how to keep learning going, and how long to shut the school.

Should PNG Schools be worried - yes

Surely. Any widespread infection is a course for public concern. PNG schools should definitely be worried, but not scared.

No need to rush to the shops and fight over toilet papers or shut schools down just because there is a case of cold flu in the school.

As mentioned, close schools and limit exposures to public gatherings IF there is a clear case of the viral coronavirus breakout in PNG. 

But, schools must not close because of rumours and scaremongering.

Life must go on as normal.

Coronavirus COVID-19: PNG PMs Address to the Nation on Preparedness and Response Plan

PM JAMES MARAPE'S ADDRESS TO THE NATION ON CORONA VIRUS

My fellow Papua New Guineans:

The world is currently facing a common enemy – the coronavirus disease, known as COVID-19. On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a pandemic.

As of today, there are more than 132,000 cases of COVID-19 and almost 5,000 deaths reported globally. There are 122 countries, territories and areas that have reported cases. It has also come to our Pacific neighbour of French Polynesia.

Papua New Guinea, as I speak to you today, has no case of COVID-19. However, we have to continue to be on high alert as the risk of COVID-19 entering Papua New Guinea, just like the rest of our region and the world, is very high.

The PNG Government, since January, has recognized this threat to our country and we have started our preparedness measures.

We have a team of dedicated health experts and professionals who are working round-the-clock to ensure we have measures in place to prevent, detect, manage and treat any case of COVID-19.

We have developed a COVID-19 preparedness and response plan that outlines key measures from across different scenarios: from the alert phase to containment and mitigation.

It has detailed actions and requirements identified in every phase and the budget for those activities has already been approved by NEC on Wednesday this week.

These codes are the following:

Code Scenario

• ALERT (green) No case of COVID-19 in PNG (Cases are reported outside of Papua New Guinea)
• CONTAINMENT (orange) Confirmed case of COVID-19 in PNG (At least one case confirmed in PNG)
• MITIGATION (red) Community spread of COVID-19 (Human-to-human transmission in clusters within the community)

❑ We continue to put in measures to prevent the entry of the virus into the country. We have personnel at our points of entry who are screening inbound passengers. Our surveillance team conducts follow-up checks for those travellers.

❑ However, even with these measures, it would be wrong to assume that we will not get the virus. We continue to prepare for the worst-case scenario and make our system ready to response.

Some of the additional measures we are taking are;

● Prevent all passengers travelling from the following countries from entering PNG until they have completed a 14-day quarantine outside the country – these countries include;

• Italy, 
• Iran, 
• South Korea,
• Japan and 
• Mainland China.

● Place a 60-day ban on all public servants from official overseas travel.

● Ban on Cruise Ships and yachts used for leisure with more than 15 people on board.

● Setting up quarantine facilities initially in Port Moresby and Lae and eventually in Rabaul and Mount Hagen as part of our contingency plan preparations.

● Ban on boarder travel until further notice.

● For the next 90 days requiring quarantine, clearance must be cleared only at the declared ports of Motukea, Lae and Rabaul. Severe penalties will be imposed on overseas sailing directly to any unauthorized ports.

● Under our surveillance system, we are keeping data and monitoring the movement of people coming in and out of the country and particularly where they are in PNG using the supplementary health declaration forms.

● Any persons of interest showing signs and symptoms are further interviewed and self-quarantined.

● As of 13th March, we have tested 16 persons of interest in our IMR WHO Accredited Laboratory in Goroka and all have returned negative results for COVID – 19.

● PNG IMR is also preparing to conduct COVID – 19 testings in Port Moresby and Madang within two weeks.

● We will review and update our measures regularly, based on the risk assessment.

I would like to thank the Department of Health, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Immigration and Citizenship Authority, National Airports Cooperation, Air Niugini and the World Health Organization and other development partners for all your efforts so far.

While your efforts have been commendable, I urge all involved in our response including government agencies, development partners and the general public to remain vigilant as we deal with the threat of this terrible contagious illness.

I recommend that you continue to read verifiable information and inform yourselves correctly. A hotline (7196 0813) has also been established to address the immediate need for information or reporting and to answer questions people may have.

As the Government continues to put in place measures, the PNG people have the role to play. There are very simple things you can do and I want to remind you of these measures:

• Wash your hands regularly with soap and water or clean hands with an alcohol-based hand rub.
• If you cough or sneeze—do it into your flexed elbow or use a tissue. Dispose of the tissue immediately into a closed rubbish bin, and then wash your hands.
• Clean your house, offices or stores. Disinfect surfaces, tables or work desks.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
• If you feel unwell, stay at home and avoid crowded places. Do not spread the disease to others.

The health teams continue to conduct a risk assessment. Any further updates will be released regularly to ensure that citizens are kept abreast of the status of coronavirus globally and in PNG.

Honourable James Marape, MP

Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea

PRESS RELEASE 13th March, 2020

Who is 2022 PNG Hunter's New Coach?

PNG Hunters new coach, Matthew Church, is not new to rugby league. He has been fundamental in the development of young talents in the under 15, 16, 18 and 20 levels

He is an experienced assistant coach at junior levels and head coach at East Tigers under 20 and Meninga cup under 18.

Matt has a long coaching career at the junior levels. He seems to be the kind of person to go to when you wanted to develop young talents.

PNG Hunters New Coach a Fan Fav?

However, Matt may be new to the PNG RL politics and fans. He may need time to adjust to the madness of rugby League when things go well.

He also will have to prepare for times when things do not work outright. In fact, there is a ‘big shoe’ to fill and the expectations are high.  Matt is probably aware of it!

It is important that Matt sets his direction for the Hunters early on – where he wants to see the players and team by the end of his coaching career at the PNG Hunters. 

The direction can be in several ways, but importantly the success of individual players is also the success for the team as a whole.

Direction for PNG Hunters

One way to set a direction and measure it is to successfully connect players to the QRL (Intrust Super Cup), NSWRL, NRL or other international competitions.

Another direction can be for the team to be successful in the QRL competition. And that is to not fall below the precedence set by the previous players and coach.

Matt said he is focused on the PNG Hunters now with his sight on the Digicel Cup comp.

He said

"I'm just looking forward to developing those players and the staff in and around the Hunters and hopefully working in the Digicel Cup (domestic competition in Papua New Guinea) as well to raise coach education,".

It seems he has fallen far below the expectations as the PNG Hunters coach.