The COVID-19 pandemic in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of

coronavirus disease 2019 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

() caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The

Autonomous Region of Bougainville Bougainville ( ; ; Tok Pisin: ''Bogenvil''), officially the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (Tok Pisin: ''Otonomos Region bilong Bogenvil''), is an autonomous region in Papua New Guinea. The largest island is Bougainville Island, while the re ...

's confirmed its first case of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

on Friday, August 7, 2020, in Arawa, Bougainville. The first documented arrival of COVID-19 in Bougainville occurred just before the start of the Bougainvillean general and presidential elections, which took place over the course of three weeks beginning on August 12, 2020, and ending on September 1, 2020.

Background

On 12 January 2020, the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

(WHO) confirmed that a

novel coronavirus Novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a provisional name given to coronaviruses of medical significance before a permanent name is decided upon. Although coronaviruses are endemic in humans and infections normally mild, such as the common cold (caused by ...

was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city a ...

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The p ...

province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.

Timeline in Bougainville

August 2020

On August 1, 2020, the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) began restricting flights from the rest of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

after a new surge of coronavirus cases

COVID-19 pandemic in Papua New Guinea The COVID-19 pandemic in Papua New Guinea is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have reached Papua New Guinea on 20 March ...

. While a COVID-19 state of emergency was already in place, passengers had been able to fly into

Buka Airport Buka Airport is an airport serving Buka Island in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea. It is located at the southern end of the island, near Buka Passage behind the town of Buka, and pre-war Chinatown. The airport termin ...

and

Aropa Airport Aropa Airport (or Kieta Airport) is an airport in Kieta, Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea. History The original grass airfield was occupied and expanded by the Imperial Japanese in spring 1942. It then became the target of Allied air bomb ...

from Papua New Guinea since early June 2020. Beginning August 1, flights into Bougainville could only be

MEDEVAC Medical evacuation, often shortened to medevac or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to wounded being evacuated from a battlefield, to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of a ...

or an approved

charter flight Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights ...

. The government also now needed to grant permission to anyone seeking to fly out of Bougainville. Just one freight flight would be allowed to land in Bougainville each week. The Autonomous Bougainville Government confirmed its first positive case of COVID-19 on Friday, August 7, 2020. The first patient was identified as a 22-year college student. The student returned to Buka, Bougainville, passing through

, from

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

, the capital of Papua New Guinea. He then traveled to

Central Bougainville District Central Bougainville District is a district of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville of Papua New Guinea. Its capital is Arawa-Kieta Kieta is a port town located on the eastern coast of the island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, near the ...

before testing positive for COVID-19. Once identified, the patient was quarantines in the town of Arawa. Contact tracing was set up to find individuals that the man may have come in contact with. In August 2020, the government began requiring the operators and drivers of public motor vehicles (PMVs) to keep daily recorded logs of all passengers in an effort to aid contact tracing. Public motors vehicles are the main form of

public transportation Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

in Bougainville. The Autonomous Bougainville Government also banned travel between different localities and constituencies for four days, beginning on August 12, 2020, in an effort to stop any potential spread of COVID-19. The confirmed arrival of COVID-19 in Autonomous Region of Bougainville occurred just before the beginning of the 2020 Bougainvillean general and

presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

, which began on August 12, 2020. Commissioner Ignatius Nauru of the Office of the Bougainville Electoral Commissioner said efforts were in place to educate voters about COVID-19 during the three week election. Personal protective equipment (PPE), such as masks and gloves, were mandatory for all poll workers, while voters were required to sanitize their hands at the polling station. Voters were also asked to bring their own pens to fill out their ballots.

March 2021

In March 2021, Speaker of the

Bougainville House of Representatives The Bougainville House of Representatives is the legislature of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, an autonomous entity within Papua New Guinea. It was established in 2005 under Part 5 of the region's constitution, which specifies that the Ho ...

Simon Pentanu Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

confirmed he had been diagnosed with COVID-19 and had begun 14 days of self-quarantine.

April 2021

On 20 April, Bougainville confirmed its first death from COVID-19. In addition, health authorities confirmed that there had been a total of 284 cases in the autonomous region with 254 cases having since recovered.

References

External links

Autonomous Region of Bougainville State of Emergency (SOE) COVID-19
{{COVID-19 pandemic Bougainville COVID-19 pandemic in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville 2020 in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville 2021 in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville 2020 in Papua New Guinea 2021 in Papua New Guinea Bougainville Disease outbreaks in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville 2020 disasters in Papua New Guinea 2021 disasters in Papua New Guinea