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Physical distancing,

confinement

and

curfews

are measures that are alien to the daily lives of the inhabitants of the

Cook Islands,

Kiribati, Micronesia, Niue,

Palau

, Nauru, Tonga,

Samoa

and Tuvalu, island countries scattered in the Pacific that have not So far

no case of covid-19 has been registered,

according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO).

These small countries, made up mostly of archipelagos with dozens of tiny

islands and atolls,

have a combined population of just over

1.4 million,

with Tuvalu (with 11,192 citizens) being the least populated.

The success of geographically remote island nations is due "to

tighter

border control,

strict quarantines and few repatriation flights," explains Meru Sheel, an epidemiologist at the Australian National University.

FREE FROM COVID BUT NOT FROM MEASLES

Surrounded by the immensity of the Pacific Ocean and thousands of kilometers away from their closest neighbors, these paradisiacal islands acted with speed and determination to halt the arrival of the virus in its tracks.

The closure of the borders since last March was key to avoid repeating a situation similar to that which occurred in 2019 when

measles

spread across the Pacific to places like Tonga and Fiji.

Ecohotel on the island of Espiritu, in Vanuatu.

But with the passing of time the chances of being free of covid-19 diminish, since in October the Marshall Islands and the Solomon Islands detected their

first imported infections

and a month later Vanuatu did.

"A virus that circulates in the region is always a risk", warns Sheel, noting that the area "has

limited resources

" in terms of infrastructure and health personnel, as well as limitations to do tests to detect the virus and trace contacts.

TOURISM, EVAPORATED

For these islands, the tranquility of being free of covid-19 has, however, come at a high cost.

This is the case of the tourist

Fiji

, which has fifty cases, has the most developed infrastructure in the region and has managed to contain the pandemic.

But in 2020 Fijian GDP is forecast to fall by 20%, according to World Bank calculations, which predicts that the Pacific economies would not stabilize until 2022.

In addition, the pandemic has forced many families "to have to make difficult decisions such as

stopping eating

or withdrawing their children from schools, something that will have harmful consequences in the coming years," warns Michel Kerf, representative of the World Bank in the region.

Traditional houses in the village of Navala, in the archipelago of Fiji.

The

evaporation of tourism

is also compounded by the sharp reduction in international trade, the fall in the prices of its raw materials due to lower demand and remittances from its diaspora, including seasonal workers.

Palau

, like the

Marshall Islands,

began to inoculate the Moderna vaccine and the small island nation of nearly 18,000 is expected to be one of the

first in the world

to immunize its entire population against COVID-19.

"The economy has been heavily impacted by covid-19, the only solution is to get vaccinated," said Tommy Remengesau, the outgoing president of Palau, where tourism accounts for more than 40% of its GDP.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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