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Returnee from US is Vanuatu's first coronavirus case

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WELLINGTON: Vanuatu has recorded its first case of the coronavirus after a citizen who had been repatriated from the United States tested positive while in quarantine.

The Pacific nation had been among the last few countries to have avoided the virus altogether.

Health authorities say the 23-year-old man was asymptomatic when he returned on Nov.4 and his infection was confirmed Tuesday after routine day 5 testing.

Authorities say they plan to keep everyone from the same flight in quarantine and to trace the man's close contacts but don't need to impose any broader measures in the nation of 300,000 people.

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