Santa Cruz del Islote (Colombia) (AFP)

In the Caribbean Sea rises one of the most densely populated islets on the planet: 500 people live on one hectare, off the coast of Colombia. Physical distancing, vital in these times of coronavirus pandemic, is impossible.

"We are isolated, far from the virus. But yes, we are afraid (...) that a contaminated person arrives on the island, infects us and that we all die", explains to AFP Adrian Caraballo, a guide tourist of 22 years.

Santa Cruz del Islote, or el Islote (the islet) as it is commonly called, has been fighting for decades with the lack of a doctor, the lack of drinking water and the recurrent power cuts.

More crowded than in Manhattan, where 268 people live on 0.01 km², its inhabitants display feats of ingenuity and solidarity to face shortages.

But the new coronavirus is threatening. Colombia has surpassed 100,000 cases and 3,400 deaths for 50 million inhabitants. And two hours by boat from Islote, on the coast, is Cartagena de Indias, a colonial and tourist gem, which suffers from the worst contagion rate in the country.

Before seeing the Covid-19 disembark, community leaders on the island established a containment protocol for every resident who leaves and returns.

- A slum without a city -

So Adrian went to a medical appointment "on the mainland" and has remained isolated for fourteen days on Tintinpan, a neighboring and slightly larger island.

The transparent sea, which plays with the whole palette of greens and blues, surrounds this cluster of a hundred tangled huts, without a beach. In the center, the Place de la Croix and around the hovels, two piers and a school.

For anthropologist Andrea Leiva, "the pandemic reveals old structural problems".

"But it's interesting to see how these people find solutions for themselves. Because exercising physical distance control on an overcrowded island is impossible and it would be almost ridiculous, knowing that there is not even a drinking water, "she adds.

Although no tests have been carried out, residents say they are spared from the new coronavirus. There are no masks or restrictions on the island. Children run around. Adults play dominoes. The friends are chatting.

"In a way, we feel protected on the island," says Adrian.

- From tourism to fishing -

Alexander Atencio left his students in early March, when Colombia detected his first case of Covid-19. He confined himself to the coast, in the village of Tolu, an hour by speedboat, where he used to go only on weekends.

The government has ordered the continuation of the distance school year. But El Islote "is not adapted" to "a 100% virtual education", explains this professor.

Since then, schoolchildren have received exercises at home to solve and send back to teachers by boat to be graded.

For these islanders "the confinement is not a novelty because they have always lived apart", underlines the master, adding that are not new either "the negligence or the lack of public policies".

El Islote lives mainly from tourism, one of the most affected sectors. Hotels, restaurants and bars in the surrounding paradise islands have closed. Because of unemployment, "money does not circulate" and the economy is paralyzed, specifies the anthropologist.

So, "for their own consumption, they dedicate themselves to fishing, a traditional practice that has been taken up (...) but it is not enough," adds this researcher, whose island is the subject of her thesis. doctorate.

Adrian has put his guide activity on hold and will not have his baccalaureate this year, but he hopes to reconnect with his projects when "better times come".

- Poverty and ingenuity -

Gleisy Barbosa, a student in Cartagena, returned to her parents when the health emergency was declared.

"As things got difficult, my mom didn't have anything to send me and told me to come back because, as on the island we are all united, if the neighbor has, the neighbor shares," said this 20 year old girl.

According to the anthropologist, "despite normal internal disputes (...) it is a society based on the collective" and this "social fabric" helps them to cope better with the pandemic than in "more individualistic cities".

Thus, those who can contribute to pay for electricity so that everyone has it at night.

"It is an island that I would not change for anything in the world," said Adrian, who is in his late forties and is impatient to return.

© 2020 AFP