[5] By early May, the number of hospitalizations in the capital Port Moresby stabilized, but delays in receiving test results from regional areas were a concern.
[6] In mid May, as the reasons for the apparent easing of the pandemic situation remained uncertain, discrepancies between government figures and higher ones from the provinces led to concerns that hundreds of COVID-19 cases had been missed in the national tally.
[8] On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.
During the pandemic, the country relied extensively on help from abroad, including the deployment of medical personnel, coronavirus testing kits, personal protective equipment, and from 2021, vaccines.
[14] As of April 2021, the country was unable to conduct mass testing, leading health officials to believe that the reported infection numbers were likely vastly underestimating the scale of the outbreak.
[16] During the wave of cases in the first half of 2021, the demographics of the country – dominated by the very young, who were less likely to require intensive care when infected with the coronavirus – were regarded as having prevented a worse situation.
[2] On 5 April, Elizabeth II, Queen of Papua New Guinea addressed the Commonwealth in a televised broadcast, in which she asked people to "take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return".
[20] On 23 April, a woman of age 45 from Eastern Highlands Province who had sought medical help with symptoms two weeks earlier was confirmed to be infected, marking the eighth case in Papua New Guinea.
[40] On 10 August, Prime Minister James Marape announced that the two-week lockdown of Port Moresby, which expired the following day, would not be extended in spite of rising case numbers, saying that as per advice from specialist teams, a strategy of "living with the virus" was preferable to "drastic measures".
Governor of Port Moresby Powes Parkop supported the decision, pointing to the present situation of economic crisis and the increased risks due to the lockdown in particular for students, who were often living in crowded conditions inferior to those in schools.
According to a ministerial briefing obtained by the ABC, "critical functions" at the National Control Centre for COVID-19 were endangered by about 40 staff members not having been paid for five months.
[46] On 23 March tougher anti-pandemic measures took effect, with internal border controls being tightened, personal movement restricted, and mask wearing made mandatory.
[51] A monitoring by Caritas of COVID-19 awareness programs in the country found that rural communities, largely relying on word of mouth rather than the media, were vulnerable to misinformation regarding the virus.
[51] In a 2 July article, the China state media outlet Global Times alleged that "Australian consultants" in PNG had been "obstructing" the emergency use authorisation of Chinese vaccines.
A 5 July statement by foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin expressed concern over what he called "irresponsible behaviour" by Australia in the country.
Citing phylogenic studies which suggested that the origin of the outbreak was in neighbouring Indonesian Papua province, National Pandemic Response Deputy Controller Daoni Esorom urged people to stop traveling illegally there.
In response, a New Zealand medical and logistics support team with essential supplies was sent to the country, with most of them arriving on 13 November, to stay for prospectively one month.
[55] Experts warned that, due to the extremely low vaccination rate – less than five per cent in the adult population – , the country could become a breeding ground for a further mutation of the coronavirus.
[57] Prime Minister James Marape tested positive during a trip to China early in the month, and cut his visit short as a result.
[58] The Government of Papua New Guinea banned all travellers from Asian countries and closed its border with Indonesia, taking effect from 30 January 2020.
Gatherings remain banned, social distancing measures have to be enforced, and washing hands before entering church services is mandatory.