Connell John
School of Geosciences University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia.
Asia Pac Policy Stud. 2022 Sep;9(3):394-407. doi: 10.1002/app5.364. Epub 2022 Nov 11.
Early experience of COVID-19 in seven Pacific politically dependent territories (Guam, American Samoa, Pitcairn, Tokelau, French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna, and New Caledonia) emphasises a diversity of contexts, responses, outcomes and possible futures. The consequences of COVID-19, whether present or absent, included deaths, social isolation, impossibility of medical referrals, economic decline, breakdown of supply chains, and some return migration to rural livelihoods. Outcomes were complicated by differences between local and metropolitan interests, objectives, policies and practices, that reflected historical experience; and by geography, budgets, the significance of tourism, the role of a military presence, ethnicity and demography. Indigenous groups were more likely to be affected and disadvantaged. Management of the pandemic provided an intermittent focus for dissent from pro-independence groups. Borders acquired unprecedented significance as barriers and frontiers. The experience of COVID-19 enabled some focus on the possibility of establishing a future 'new normal', but immediate revivals and restoration took precedence.
7个太平洋政治附属领地（关岛、美属萨摩亚、皮特凯恩、托克劳、法属波利尼西亚、瓦利斯和富图纳以及新喀里多尼亚）应对新冠疫情的早期经历凸显了背景、应对措施、结果及可能未来的多样性。新冠疫情的影响，无论有无，都包括死亡、社会隔离、无法进行医疗转诊、经济衰退、供应链中断，以及一些人回归农村生计。当地与宗主国在利益、目标、政策和做法上的差异使结果变得复杂，这些差异反映了历史经验；此外，地理、预算、旅游业的重要性、军事存在的作用、种族和人口结构也使情况更为复杂。原住民群体更易受到影响且处于不利地位。疫情管理成为支持独立团体表达异议的一个间歇性焦点。边境作为屏障和边界获得了前所未有的重要性。新冠疫情的经历使人们能够关注建立未来“新常态”的可能性，但当下的复苏和恢复更为优先。
