More than two dozen engineers from China are among the first arrivals in Vanuatu subjected to the country's stricter quarantine rules.
The government announced the country's first case of Covid-19 yesterday.
A ni-Vanuatu man arrived in Port Vila from the US, via Australia and New Zealand, and was found to be infected during a routine test on Tuesday.
The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation said 28 of its engineers arrived yesterday afternoon on a charter flight and they were free from Covid-19.
The company said they were tested 72 hours before they left China and will spend 28 days in quarantine in Port Vila under the new rules declared yesterday.
The engineers will be deployed on road projects on the islands of Malekula and Tanna.
The island of Efate, including the capital Port Vila, is closed off from other parts of the country from today to control any spread of the coronavirus.
Photo RNZ Caption: Compound for workers building a road on Tanna