The body of a Filipino fisherman was discovered on April 11 on a beach in Vanuatu, a short drive from the capital’s main pier, Port Vila, on the island of Efate, according to the report.
That day, a UK-flagged oil tanker discovered that a crew member was not on board the ship in Port Vila, New Zealand public broadcaster RNZ reported last week. Port authorities in Vanuatu have told the tanker to return to the port and a search and rescue operation has begun.
After the crew member’s body was found on the beach, authorities detained the tanker. The body was taken to a mortuary and subsequently tested positive for Covid-19, according to RNZ.
It is not clear from the RNZ report whether the man died from Covid-19 or how he came to wash ashore on the island. CNN contacted the Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Utilities, which goes beyond the Department of Ports and Navy for more information.
Most remote island nations in the South Pacific have reported very few cases of coronavirus, and Vanuatu – home to about 300,000 people – is no exception. The country reported only three Covid-19 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. He reported his first case in November last year and two more infections in March.
According to Prime Minister Bob Loughman, the travel ban is in force while the authorities follow up on contacts, RNZ reported.
As part of these efforts, 16 people were quarantined – most of them police officers who went to the scene when the body was found, according to the report. Health Director General Russell Tamata urges the public to be tested, although he said the risk of community transmission is low, according to RNZ.
Opposition leader Ralph Regenvanu he said on Twitter that, although Vanuatu imposed “extremely strict quarantine protocols on all ports of entry into the country”, they did not provide that a corpse with Covid-19 could be washed ashore and placed in “the only mortuary in the country where people gather to mourn every day. “
CNN contacted Vanuatu authorities for comment.