Contact tracing

Police officers and other officials who may have been exposed to the virus whilst handling the deceased body have undergone tests.

The deceased who was a crew member on a tanker was reported missing by his colleagues as the vessel sailed out of Port Vila over a week ago.

His body was found at Paradise Point by a search party.

At a press conference yesterday (Sunday), Prime Minister Bob Loughman Weibur announced the deceased was tested positive for Covid-19 after a post mortem examination.

Loughman announced a 3-day lockdown for Efate Island.

They hope to initially help third-party contact-tracing apps run efficiently.

But ultimately, they aim to do away with the need to download dedicated apps, to encourage the practice.

The two companies believe their approach - designed to keep users, whose participation would be voluntary, anonymous - addresses privacy concerns.

Their contact-tracing method would work by using a smartphone's Bluetooth signals to determine to whom the owner had recently been in proximity for long enough to have established contagion a risk.