Lab

Until April 28 2020, all quality tests undertaken for food, drinks and other bi-products are done in the Port Vila laboratory.

According to VBS Chief Executive Officer Ruth Amos, the lab based at Agriculture College will benefit most producers up North, especially kava producers who export their products overseas.

Upon VBS request, the Board of the Vanuatu Agriculture College gave the go- ahead to use an empty laboratory at the college to house VBS equipment, which will be used to conduct quality tests.

Described as a "game changer" that will help scientists determine whether a future vaccine is effective, experts at Melbourne's Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity on Tuesday became the world's first scientific lab outside of China to recreate the virus.

They will now share it with the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Europe, which will in turn share it with labs worldwide — including one from Queensland — involved in the worldwide race to develop a vaccine.

The team of scientists grew the virus from a patient who had been infected since Friday.