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.

Yonique Campbell received a DPhil (PhD) from the University of Oxford and is a Senior  Lecturer in Public Policy& Management in the Department of Government at the University of the West Indies, Mona. She also serves as a policy advisor to the Minister of Health and Wellness (Government of Jamaica).

John Connell is Professor of Geography in the School of Geosciences, University of Sydney. He works mainly on small island development issues in the Pacific region and has published several books on migration and colonialism.

  

Introduction: COVID-19 and Small Island States.- Public Health and Political Imperatives: Balancing Lives, Livelihoods, and Democracy in Jamaicas 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 Vavau, Tonga: From Weakness to Strength during COVID-19?.- Tourism Policy Within a Pandemic: The Case of Bahamas.- An Industry in Crisis: How Vanuatus 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 Fijis 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 Caribbeans 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.