COVID-19’s Impact on American Samoa by Lucyanna Herrera, Murrieta, California (Curation Number 9)

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 Lucyanna Herrera of Murrieta, CA 

COVID-19’s Impact on American Samoa


MEASLES OUTBREAK IN THE PACIFIC - SITUATION REPORT No. 9: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/wpro---documents/dps/outbreaks-and-emergencies/measles-2019/measles-pacific-who-unicef-sitrep-20200103.pdf?sfvrsn=82f90381_2 



A Place in the U.S. With No Covid-19? Look to American Samoa. (May 6, 2020): https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/06/us/coronavirus-american-samoa.html 


Devastated by disease in the past, Samoa is on high alert after recent coronavirus scares (Nov 26, 2020): https://theconversation.com/devastated-by-disease-in-the-past-samoa-is-on-high-alert-after-recent-coronavirus-scares-150940 


Stranded in the U.S., American Samoans are unable to go home (Video): https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/stranded-in-the-u-s-american-samoans-are-unable-to-go-home 


I chose to do my curation on how COVID-19 has particularly affected American Samoa and their citizens. While doing my research, I discovered through the WHO that just in December 2019 American Samoa was one of the few Oceanic islands impacted by a measles outbreak, killing 85 of the 5,675 people it infected. Dealing with an outbreak like this just recently, I was curious to see how they handled COVID-19 and how it has impacted them. Miraculously, until November 26, 2020, not a single case of COVID-19 was reported due to their quick restrictions on travel to the island. This did not come without consequence though, as I found that some citizens had to make the sacrifice to take a one way ticket to seek medical care alone off the island, and some who were on the mainland before everything was shut down and require visas to travel back are stranded because they can’t afford the outrageous fees to return. The toll this is taking on those who are separated from their families may actually be impacting them more than the actual virus itself hits close to home for me. As a Hispanic woman, I know all too much about families being separated at the border. While maybe those living on the island aren’t being directly hit by the virus, Samoans are still struggling immensely emotionally, financially, and physically. It is easy to only think of ourselves, our families, friends, and social lives during this pandemic, but there are so many people struggling so much more than just not being able to go out to a bar. We must do our part to stop the spread of the virus to help reunite the families living on American Samoa.

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