How these countries remained COVID-free a year into the pandemic

It's been the worst month for pandemic-fighting India. It's been the worst 24 hours with record fresh cases. But a Sunday demands a shot of hope. We bring you vignettes from a universe untouched by darkness

April was the cruellest month. TS Eliot’s famous line from his epic verse, The Waste Land, come to mind, as we look back at the month gone by. India stands ravaged by the second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic. Starving for hope, mid-day decided it would turn to lands, which though currently beyond our reach thanks to travel restrictions, have remained COVID-free since the world got caught in the virus’s grip 13 months ago. 

Palau, Tonga, Kiribati and Tuvalu and Samoa—all island nations—have been shut off from the world and resolutely remain disease-free. This has mostly been possible because they shut their borders right after news of the pandemic trickled in, and they haven’t opened up yet.  

Map/Uday Mohite

We began our search on Instagram for the best pictures emerging out of these places to help us imagine a different world for ourselves, connecting with both locals and tourists, to give you a sense of the life there. Read and be transported.

‘The island has only one health centre’

Tuvalu
South Pacific Island, Oceania
Population: 11,646
Storyteller: Elisabeth Thouvenin, 22, writer and French teacher
 
I was soul travelling and reached Tuvalu to write an essay on how the sea levels are rising due to climate change. I think I made it out on the last boat, before they shut their borders; I have been in Fiji since then. Tuvalu had to close its borders, as they have only one health centre on the island, which can’t take the pressure of a pandemic. I can’t even call it a hospital. People, who fall seriously ill, are usually taken to Fiji or New Zealand. Tuvalu is marked by a community lifestyle, where everyone knows everyone. So, if one person had got the infection, it would’ve spread through the island swiftly. In Fiji, people were roaming without masks, until two weeks ago when a few people got it here. Everyone has suffered due to the loss of tourism. What has happened now is that the expensive resorts are welcoming locals at affordable prices. That’s one positive thing to have emerged out of this: locals can afford a ‘holiday’ they never could.

‘They couldn’t handle a measles outbreak’

Independent State Of Samoa
Polynesian country 
Population: 1.97 lakh
Storyteller: Mike Karas, 36, photographer

Samoa is a lush, beautiful island, but I find it strange that not many people know about it. I visited the place last year, and for most part, it was empty and isolated. There are barely any good pictures of the island online, as it doesn’t see as many travellers. They have shut their borders for now, as their medical infrastructure is poor, and it’s likely that they won’t be able to cope with a COVID-19 outbreak. When I was there last year, they had a measles outbreak, and the situation was worrying with just that. The locals have been through a lot. But, they are friendly and happy-go-lucky, just like people in Hawaii.