Social distancing advice is for people to keep a 1m proximity and to limit personal contact to avoid coronavirus.

Samoa has its first suspected case of coronavirus.

A statement from Samoa's Ministry of Health confirmed the news of Wednesday night.

The person arrived in Samoa on a flight from New Zealand on Wednesday, March 11.

The patient, an Auckland resident, is receiving care at the TTM Hospital in Motootua. They are being cared for separately from other patients.

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The Samoan government said the person flew to Samoa for a family occasion, but presented at the hospital on Wednesday morning after experiencing flu-like symptoms for two days.

The patient was currently stable and their samples have been sent to Australia for Covid-19 testing. Results were expected in 10-20 working days.

Samoa's Ministry of Health was undertaking contact tracing of all possible contacts.

"The public will be updated immediately as soon as we have further information," the statement said.

The Ministry encourage all persons who have travelled or transited through countries affected by Covid-19 to monitor themselves for the development of fever, cough and shortness of breath. Any people with these symptoms should contact the Ministry's Covid-19 call centre for advice.

"Additionally, please self-isolate at home. That is to stay in a separate room from family members and use separate eating and drinking utensils," the statement said.

The Ministry is taking full precautions and preventive measures, to control the transmission of Covid-19, including preparing the health system to treat and care for our patients when the first case arrives, the statement said.

Meanwhile, Papua New Guinea also had suspicions of a probable case there and testing was under way, according to the Post Courier.