Coronavirus

"We are bringing our country back," Mr Trump said during a visit to a mask-manufacturing factory in Arizona. 

New confirmed infections per day in the US currently top 20,000, and daily deaths exceed 1,000.

US health officials warn the virus may spread as businesses begin to reopen.

The US currently has 1.2 million confirmed coronavirus infections and more than 70,000 related deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

What did President Trump say?

Speaking at a two-hour virtual "town hall", Mr Trump also denied that his administration had acted too slowly.

More than 67,000 people have already died with Covid-19 in the US.

But Mr Trump expressed optimism about the development of a vaccine, saying one would be ready by the end of this year - although public health experts believe it will take 12 to 18 months.

According to the ministry, most of the applications were from the tourism and services-related business sectors, which are forecast to be the worst hit sectors by the pandemic.

The ministry confirmed that payments for the COVID -19 Employment Stimulus Package (ESP) approved by the Council of Ministers (COM) early last month have commenced.

To date the government has already approved payments for 36 companies and some 883 employees, and employers should have seen their bank accounts credited either last week or by the end of this week.

The Director of Public Health Services in the Ministry of Health, Dr Len Tarivonda, said the ward being prepared at the Vila Central Hospital in Port Vila, should be ready in two weeks.

The Daily Post reports he also confirmed that equipment to carry out tests for covid will arrive in Vanuatu within two weeks.

Dr Tarivonda said staff at the laboratory at Vila Central were already undergoing special training to be ready to carry out tests for the virus.

According to him, the isolation ward will allow for no more than 100 people to undergo tests at any one time.

The Nga Vaka o Kāiga Tapu campaign was launched this month by The Cause Collective, a Pacific social change agency.

The Cause Collective have spent the past three years working with family violence practitioners, Pacific providers and community leaders, including police, social workers and church ministers and training using specific cultural frameworks in eight different Pacific languages through the Nga Vaka o Kāiga Tapu programme.

Mimika now has 51 cases, the most of any single regency in Papua region.

Indonesia's Health Ministry said the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in West Papua province was 37, and 189 in neighbouring Papua province, with seven deaths overall.

Cities near the border with PNG, Jayapura and Merauke, were among the hotspots.

But of particular concern to provincial health officials was the surge in cases over recent weeks in Mimika where the major Freeport gold and copper mine was located.

Mayor Eric Garcetti made the announcement just hours after Los Angeles County reported its largest daily increase in new Covid-19 cases.

Until now, only essential workers and those displaying symptoms could receive tests due to a scarcity of kits.

It comes as California is expected to close all beaches across the state.

Los Angeles County currently accounts for almost half of California's confirmed coronavirus cases. The state has so far reported over 48,000 cases and more than 1,900 deaths.

The WHO's Angela Merianos said new initiatives like the Pacific Islands Forum's fast-track humanitarian pathway are helping these efforts.

Dr Merianos leads a new space for more than 20 agencies joining forces against Covid-19 in the Pacific.

She said the team are well aware of the impact of restrictions on tourism-dependent economies.

"I think we really have to again work collectively watch this space, make sure that we're balancing the interest of public health and human safety."

The lockdown imposed on Sunday was lifted yesterday (Wednesday, 29 April).

NDMO Director Abraham Nasak said the Ministry of Health carried out an epidemiology investigation and the findings concluded that there is no COVID-19 infection on the ship and therefore there the risk of importing the virus is minimal.

The cargo ship Amazin from the Philippines has been cleared to continue its voyage to the next port of destination.

The results are compiled in a joint survey on the impact of the novel coronavirus that was conducted by the Vanuatu Tourism Office and Ministry of Tourism.

Vanuatu’s Tourism office said these businesses also reported that marketing, product development and financial management were the three main areas where they needed assistance with because of the COVID-19 Pandemic.