COVID in the Islands: A comparative perspective on the Caribbean and the Pacific

This book provides the first wide-ranging account of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in two contrasting island regions - the Caribbean and the Pacific - and in several islands and island states. It traces the complexity of effects and responses, at different scales, through the first critical year. Written by a range of scholars and practitioners working in the region the book focuses on six key themes: public health; the economies (notably the collapse of tourism, the revival of local agriculture and fishing, and the rebirth of self-reliance, and even barter); the rescue by remittances; social tensions and responses; public policy; and future 'bubbles' and regional connections. Even with marine borders that excluded the virus all island states were affected by COVID-19 because of a considerable dependence on tourism - prompting urgent challenges for governance, economic management and development, as small states sought to balance lives against livelihoods in search of revitalisation or even a 'new normal'.

Introduction: COVID-19 and Small Island States. - Public Health and Political Imperatives: Balancing Lives, Livelihoods, and Democracy in Jamaica s COVID-19 Experience. - COVID-19 in Pacific Islands People of Aotearoa/New Zealand: Communities Taking Control. - Coronavirus and CARICOM: The Benefit of a Regional University in a Coherent Pandemic Response. - Caribbean Economies and COVID-19: Impact and Prospects for 2021 and beyond. - Did French Polynesia cope with COVID-19? Intrinsic Vulnerabilities and Decreased Resilience. - A Magnifying Glass for Local Political and Economic Issues. - Double Jeopardy: Distance and Decentralisation in Tuvalu. - Learning from the Past? Sovereign Space and Recreating Self-Reliance in Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia. - Healthcare Denied? COVID-19 and Kiribati' s Shrinking Transnational Space. - Small and Isolated Vava u, Tonga: From Weakness to Strength during COVID-19? . - Tourism Policy Within a Pandemic: The Case of Bahamas. - An Industry in Crisis: How Vanuatu s Tourism sector is Building for Economic Recovery. - Vaccination for Vacation: Assessing the Resilience of the Jamaican Hospitality Industry in a Pandemic. - Tourism in a World of Disorder: A Return to the
Vanua
and Kinship with Nature in Fiji. - COVID-19 and Transnational Remittances in Samoa: Maintaining Family Ties in the Face of Crisis. - Pacific Labour Mobility on Pause: the consequences of temporary immobility during the COVID-19 pandemic. - From Face to Face to Meeting in Space: The Impact of COVID-19 on the Events Industry in Trinidad and Tobago. - Challenging the idea of work: Assessing the impact of COVID-19 on the future of work, health and well-being of the Jamaican workforce. - COVID-19 and Food Security in Fiji s Urban Areas: The Rise of Urban Farming and Home Gardening as a `New Way of Life . - Catching fish in COVID-19 currents: food security and governance in rural communities in Solomon Islands. - Of Isolation and Atolls: Coping with COVID-19in Manus, Papua New Guinea. - COVID-19: The impact of a complex disaster on household food security in Caribbean SIDS. - God and the Virus in Papua New Guinea: Outsourcing Risk, Living with Uncertainty and (Re)creating a
Niupela Pasin. - Igat wei bilong lukautim mipela yet istap
(We can look after ourselves):Community-based Organisations Responding to COVID-19 in Papua New Guinea. - Safeguarding Human Rights in a Global Pandemic: Reflections on the Caribbean s Response to COVID-19. - To Comply or not to Comply. State Resistance and Exceptions to COVID-19 Rules and Regulations. - Towards a resilient, inclusive and green recovery in the Caribbean. - Aftermath: Towards a `New Normal .