Virus-free Pacific island holds on in hope

A CORONAVIRUS-FREE tropical island nestled in the northern Pacific may seem the perfect place to ride out a pandemic — but residents on Palau say life right now is far from idyllic.

The microstate of 18,000 people is among a dwindling number of places on Earth to still report zero cases of COVID-19 as figures mount daily elsewhere.

The disparate group also includes Samoa, Turkmenistan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and bases on the frozen continent of Antarctica.

A dot in the ocean hundreds of kilometers from its nearest neighbors, Palau is surrounded by the vast Pacific, which has acted as a buffer against the virus.

Along with strict travel restrictions, this seems to have kept infections at bay for a number of nations, including Tonga, the Solomons Islands, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia.

But remoteness is not certain to stop the relentless march of the new disease. The Northern Mariana Islands confirmed its first cases over the weekend, followed by a suspected death on Monday.

Klamiokl Tulop, a 28-year-old artist and single mum, is hopeful Palau can avoid the fate of Northern Italy, New York or Madrid — where better-resourced health services were overrun. But she describes a growing sense of dread, a fear that the virus is coming or could already be on the island undetected.

“You can feel a rising tension and anxiety just shopping,” she said. “Stores are crowded even more during non-payday weeks.”

There have been several scares on Palau, including a potential case that saw one person placed into quarantine this week as authorities await test results.

Inside Australia’s four remote Antarctic research bases, around 90 people have found themselves ensconced on the only virus-free continent as they watch their old home transform beyond recognition.

There is no need for social distancing in the tundra. “They’re probably the only Australians at the moment that can have a large dinner together or have the bar still open or the gym still open,” Antarctic Division Operations manager Robb Clifton said.

The bases are now isolated until November, so the group is safe, but Clifton admits “the main thing that’s on the mind of expeditioners is how their loved ones are going back home.”

While Palau has no confirmed cases, it has still been gripped by the society-altering fears and economic paralysis that have affected the rest of the world.

Supermarket aisles in the country’s largest town Koror have seen panic buying and there are shortages of hand sanitizers, masks and alcohol.

The islands depend heavily on goods being shipped or flown in, meaning supplies can quickly run low.

United Airlines used to fly six times a week from nearby Guam — which has seen more than 50 cases — but now there is just one flight a week.

Residents have been practising social distancing. Doctors are waiting for test kits. The government is building five isolation rooms that will be able to hold up to 14 patients. It feels like waiting for the inevitable.