ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the impact of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the socio-economic situation of the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) during the first nine-months of 2020. The region is made up of thousands of islands spread out across a vast ocean ranging in size from the atoll country of Tokelau with a population of a little over 1,500, to the rugged, and mountainous country of Papua New Guinea with a population of almost 9 million. The region is also among the most vulnerable to natural disasters and climate change. Lack of economic opportunities in the small island economies of the Pacific have led to high rates of youth unemployment and significant rural-to-urban-to-overseas migration. Mobile phone data is also being more frequently utilised and some crowdsourcing of data in disaster situations. Communicating nationally important health messages across the countries of the region is frequently very difficult.
