![The Pacific island of Vanuatu has confirmed its first case of coronavirus [File]](/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/57b04021c90944689c3da80c6063c8b9_18.jpeg?resize=570%2C380)
The Pacific nation was one of the few countries in the world that was still free of the coronavirus.
Vanuatu
![Handout photo by the International Federation of Red Cross Pacific on April 7, 2020, shows a resident surveying the damage in the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Harold on a northern island in Vanuatu [IFRC/ AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/c810eeb21abe4194aca8f24132d15671_18.jpeg?resize=570%2C380)
Cyclone Harold destroyed many homes in Vanuatu’s Sanma province and damaged schools and health centres, says UN.
![The cyclone killed 27 people in the Solomons late last week before barrelling southeast to directly hit Vanuatu as a Category 5 storm [AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/7e442b31eea4494eb72309496f184347_18.jpeg?resize=570%2C380)
‘Superstorm’ with winds of 260km per hour hammer South Pacific island nation with buildings reduced...
![Torrential rains and destructive winds continue as the storm moves slowly over land [AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/e84b3ff6f9ef4c358a44bf7196e3eb4c_18.jpeg?resize=570%2C380)
Torrential rains and destructive winds continue as the storm moves slowly over land.
![Storm damage is seen in March 2015 in Port Vila, Vanuatu [File: Getty Images]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/4af1f4fcef9242f4b36b4b3cc8ec8ef5_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Central Vanuatu has not experienced a Category 3 cyclone since 2004 when there was widespread ‘moderate damage’.
![Geographical isolation has helped protect the Pacific Islands from the coronavirus, and governments also closed borders to keep visitors out, recognising the risk the disease poses to their communities [File: Fazry Ismail/EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/6a57014c8e0b4fc89c1ac4288cd8c2cf_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
People in the island nations have some of world’s highest rates of diabetes and obesity, and health systems are weak.
Analysts say Australia sees China’s influence as a potential threat to sovereignty, independence, stability and even to peace.
Examining the future of the Internet, 5G, and connecting the 3.5 billion people across the globe who don’t have access.
The Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu is considering legal action against big polluters thousands of kilometres away.
Leimalu Tapesi, the first woman anointed chairperson of a village tribal council, plans to crack down on illegal logging.
It is innovative, it is ambitious, but Vanuatu’s government wants to know if drone delivery of vaccines to remote locations is also practical and financially viable.
![Scott Morrison, left, talks with members of the Pacific Islands Countries Informal Dialogue at last November's APEC Summit in Papua New Guinea [File: Aaron Favila/AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/45735000eb7c4ff2834fe5e163481f6f_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Scott Morrison will travel to Vanuatu and Fiji this week hoping to mend ties amid growing Chinese influence.
![Village chief Philip Kasamu poses on a smashed hut destroyed by Cyclone Pam on the island of Tanna, Vanuatu in 2015 [File: Nick Perry/AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/0bba6e0588d34adbaabbf0ecd3681a50_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Alarming study comes as ‘desperate’ low-lying Vanuatu plans to sue climate change culprits in energy industry.
Hola is aiming for the Loyalty Islands as a weaker but still damaging storm.