COVID-19 response

Spokesperson Milikini Failautusi said disinformation has been an issue and her team is working on a plan to tackle the issue for the new year.

"A lot of misconceptions and fears about the covid because people, via social media, were able to get the wrong information, they were able to get the misleading information from the internet."

She said the spread of the virus has been rapid, all of the 50 actively engaged Red Cross volunteers in Funafuti who are on the frontline - have had Covid-19 according to RNZ Pacific.

Vanuatu is battling large-scale community transmission of the virus, with the Ministry of Health confirming a total of 252 Covid-19 cases since a surge of imported cases last month.

Vanuatu Outbreak Alert System is currently at Alert Level 3—the highest level—for all provinces, where workplaces and schools are closed, and public gatherings are prohibited. A temporary suspension of inbound international flights remains in place.

The chairman of the Covid 19 Task force, Lieutenant Governor Talauega Eleasalo Ale, says Covid is surging in the community and American Samoa must adjust to address the needs of the community.

"We need to move away from mass and indiscriminate lockdown policies and focus on adopting realistic and targetted policies to ensure that our people are able to live their lives safely while ensuring that life-saving services are accessible to our public," Talauega said.

The Vanuatu Council of Ministers approved the support during its meeting this week.

Director of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and External Trade Yvon Basil says Fiji is one of Vanuatu's closest partners.

He says both countries have a good relationship and Fiji has helped Vanuatu in many ways.

Mr Basil says this includes hosting about 100 ni-Vanuatu students studying in Fiji.

Given the Melanesian solidarity, the government felt the urge to assist them.

“The individual has been picked up by the testing regime, and is now being transferred safely to the isolation facilities at Vila Central Hospital. This is a positive outcome, and shows that Vanuatu is in a good position to deal with this case. We would like to congratulate the NDMO and Ministry of Health for their work in developing and implementing these systems, and for keeping Vanuatu safe,” the business bodies have said in a media release today.

They urge businesses to:

The countries include Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Cook Islands, and Niue.

Commenting on the delivery, Abdulla Al Subousi, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the UAE to Australia, said, "Today’s aid shipment to Pacific island countries reflects the UAE’s continued efforts to support and stand by these countries to contain the spread of COVID-19 by providing critical medical supplies and protection to strengthen the efforts of healthcare personnel."

The provinces are Penama, Tafea, Torba and Sanma as Shefa and Malampa.   

This is done through a 3 days training workshop targeting Provincial Health Managers, Provincial Education Officers.

Invited stakeholders and key Health and Education Officers of the provinces are urged to come up with the following objectives:

Facilitate workshops for provincial team to establish/revive Health Promoting School Committee; and

Prepare and respond to COVID-19 in mitigating with students; Teachers and School Committees