Pacific / Palau

Palau tries to get suspected Covid-19 case tested in Guam

07:04 am on 1 April 2020

Health authorities in Palau are trying to get a suspected Covid-19 patient's specimen samples to Guam for testing.

RNZ Pacific's correspondent in Palau said there are no flights in and out of the country so a charter flight is likely.

Construction of the facility that will house the machine for testing for Covid-19 Photo: Office of the President of Palau

Bernadette Carreon said the patient is in isolation and in a stable condition.

Ms Carreon said the country is also awaiting on-island testing and analysis kits to arrive which presents another option.

She said the first of these could arrive from Taiwan as early as today.

"When the press-secretary talked to us last week, he said 1,000 from Taiwan, 6,000 from [the] US and another 10,000 are being sourced so there are probably enough to cover the entire population of Palau."