New Caledonia will require anyone arriving by plane from now on to be isolated for two weeks in a bid to fend off the coronavirus.
Noumea airport at La Tontouta New Caledonia Photo: RNZ Walter Zweifel
The government has announced that police will be deployed and fine anyone breaching the new regulation $US900.
Anyone arriving and showing symptoms of the disease will be transferred to the hospital facility set up to that end.
The government says flights are about to be suspended with the exception of a basic link to France which usually goes via Japan.
New Caledonia has had no confirmed coronavirus case so far, but the government says the moment one is detected, meetings will be prohibited and schools and bars will be immediately closed.
It has also been decided to cancel this Sunday's second round of the municipal elections.
