![Until recently, the remote Pacific islands were among the most successful in the world at keeping out the virus [File: Torsten Blackwood/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/000_Hkg2848628.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Island nation says a sailor tested positive for coronavirus after returning from Europe via New Zealand.
Samoa
Tourism-reliant Pacific island nations worried about economic impact of pandemic.
![Geographical isolation has helped protect the Pacific Islands from the coronavirus, and governments also closed borders to keep visitors out, recognising the risk the disease poses to their communities [File: Fazry Ismail/EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/6a57014c8e0b4fc89c1ac4288cd8c2cf_18.jpeg?resize=570%2C380)
People in the island nations have some of world’s highest rates of diabetes and obesity, and health...
![A mass immunisation drive has helped bring a measles epidemic in Samoa under control after 81 people died, most of them babies and young children [File: Lindsey Wasson/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/47874fec5f42422ba2cfc501af06d03c_18.jpeg?resize=570%2C380)
A mass vaccination drive covering 95 percent of population brings deadly disease under control.
![A mass immunisation drive has lifted Samoa's measles vaccination rate to 90 percent, but with the vaccine taking as long as two weeks to take effect the epidemic might not have peaked [Allan Stephen/UNICEF via AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/1762bc0ea7464fdcb534b43d1cc8a888_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
A mass immunisation drive has increased vaccine coverage to 90 percent from 30 percent when the epidemic began.
![Of the 65 measles-related deaths in Samoa in recent days, 57 were children below the age of four [Allan Stephen/UNICEF/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/036bcdf7a4924dcf9cde169ffa7d7863_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
At least 103 new cases reported since Friday but government says 89 percent of all eligible people have been immunised.
More than 20,000 people in Samoa have been vaccinated against measles in two days.
![Infants are the most vulnerable to measles, which typically causes a rash and fever but can also lead to brain damage and death [Allan Stephen/Unicef via AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/f2406973f3794557a1a17616853f4637_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
At least 140 new cases reported in the last 24 hours as death toll climbs to 63 while 20 children remain critically ill.
Roads empty as medics go door-to-door to administer vaccines in country where 62 have now died from deadly disease.
![Vaccination efforts in recent weeks have concentrated on children but the government has now broadened its programme to include the entire population [Reuters via SMH.com.au]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/7a8317fc1b534212886dd453f4f5e211_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Official data released on Wednesday put death toll from outbreak at 60, with 171 new cases reported in one day.
![Samoa is reeling from a measles outbreak driven by low vaccination rates that has now killed 53 people, mostly children [Paul Vernon/AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/7a08890cdcc64565b7006e4ad298333c_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Government closed schools and restricted travels ahead of Christmas holidays in efforts to control recent outbreak.
![Other Pacific countries such as Tonga and Fiji are also grappling with a spike in the number of measles cases [File: Tim Wimborne/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/d16e22d23ea043a791b6dc905f89cbb1_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
The health ministry says 3,149 cases of measles have been reported in the outbreak, with 213 in the last 24 hours.
![The WHO has said hesitancy on the part of parents to vaccinate their children has contributed to a sharp global increase in measles [File: Lindsey Wasson/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/f2fb0e1a54f9497eaa3d7647076dc21f_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
The Pacific island has declared a state of emergency and closed schools as it tries to contain the outbreak.
![Samoa is making measles vaccination compulsory as it battles to contain an outbreak of the deadly disease [File: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/7dfb74f260d241db812633ddd3f19797_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
At least six have died, including five children, in outbreak that is also affecting Tonga and Fiji.
