Vanuatu, a country formerly untouched by the global pandemic got its first case of Covid19. A 23- year old man, who returned from the USA tested positive for Covid19, even while he was asymptomatic. He will remain in isolation until health clearance is given, the health ministry of Vanuatu said.

The country is located in the south Pacific and is made up of around 80 islands. It is situated to the east of New Guinea, the south-east of Solomon Islands, to the west of Fiji, and to the northeast of New Caledonia. The country had attained its independence from France and the UK on July 30, 1980, in the second wave of decolonization.

A country of nearly 300,000 people, Vanuatu had avoided recording any Covid-19 cases. It likely had avoided the virus because of its remote location as it is over 1,000 miles from Australia, its largest neighbour, and also because it is made up of several smaller, unconnected islands. The island nation considers the single case of Covid-19 a “border case” and will move to contain the spread of the virus.

It is important to note that, Vanuatu will not be shutting down schools or workplaces or impose restrictions on gatherings, but it will maintain hand-washing stations throughout the country and will encourage residents to follow hygiene measures.

The country’s next stage, if a cluster of cases are recorded, will include travel restrictions between islands and the use of masks for people with Covid-19 symptoms.

This comes around four months after Covid19 had infected the people of the isolated Nahua tribe in the Peruvian Amazon and seven months after the virus had infected people in Yanomami tribe in the Brazilian Amazon in South America.

Coronavirus disease has spread to 217 countries and territories around the world, and there are over 51 million cases of Covid-19 worldwide. Over 1.3 million people have died from the virus since China reported its first case in late December 2019.