At the start of the pandemic, island nations around the world sealed the borders shut, giving a temporary reprieve from the fast spreading virus.

As the pandemic continues, many locked down nations are being forced to confront the deadly health crisis.

The ghostly quiet shores of island nations over the past two years. From New Zealand, to Australia, and the Pacific islands. In early 2020 they locked out the outside world.

At the end of 2021, the Pacific was home to some of the last countries in the world to remain entirely COVID-free. 

The start of the new year saw a spate of Pacific Island nations detecting their first cases outside of quarantine and in the broader community. 

From The Cook Islands, to the Solomons and Tonga – keeping COVID at bay was a race against time.

Avoiding the peak

While some governments used the lockdown to prepare for the eventual onslaught, others believed the wave would peak and miss them altogether.

Tonga was forced into lockdown after recording two Covid-19 cases among port workers helping distribute international aid in the wake of the volcanic eruption and tsunami.

Vaccine programs across the world have allowed many developed nations to relax covid restrictions, but those countries still pushing an elimination strategy are facing a tough battle.

Mitigation over elimination

New Zealand has now transitioned to a mitigation strategy – but case numbers are now soaring.

The Omicron wave has pushed hospitalisations with COVID in New Zealand to over 1000 at its peak.

The government now has to decide whether to implement harsher restrictions, leading to further protests like this.

Keeping covid out

80% of the local population is fully vaccinated.

It was only in March that New Zeland removed vaccine pass requirements.

As the world copes with the third year of the pandemic, there are still some island nations which remain entirely COVID-free.

But as the recent cases elsewhere in the Pacific and several near misses have shown, it is only a matter of time until they too will come up against the virus.