Pacific nations still reeling from measles outbreak prepare for coronavirus

Pacific nations are ramping up security measures at ports and airports amid fears the deadly coronavirus could arrive on their shores.

There are particular fears for Samoa, which has a population of about 200,000 people and is still reeling from a devastating measles outbreak over the last few months, which killed 83 people, mostly babies. Measles was believed to have arrived in the south Pacific nation via a traveller from New Zealand.

The Samoan government announced it had a plan for coronavirus’ arrival but did not release details.

Related: Coronavirus: China bars 11m residents from leaving city at centre of outbreak

A closed-door public health meeting was held earlier this week in Samoa to discuss ways to address the potential arrival of coronavirus. Sources in the meeting told the Guardian the Faleolo International Airport is the main concern, and that senior health officials have already visited the airport to prepare for their response plan.

More than 3,400 tourists from China visited Samoa in the year to October 2019, with 490 visitors in that month alone.

The Guardian was told that the team has already prepared “emergency gear” for the airport screening process.

Other Pacific nations, including Papua New Guinea, Fiji and New Caledonia confirmed they are increasing security at ports.

Fiji’s health minister, Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete, told the Fiji Times that the health protection unit met in Nadi earlier this week to discuss measures to protect Fiji, which had more than 47,000 visitors from China last year. New Caledonia has begun checking any travellers who have been to China in the last month, upon arrival in Noumea.

The coronavirus was first detected last month in the central Chinese city of Wuhan and has since spread beyond China. So far, the Sars-like virus has killed 17 people.

Chinese authorities have suspended all outbound travel from Wuhan and asked citizens not to leave the city unless there are special circumstances.

There are fears that the virus, which causes pneumonia, could have a particularly severe impact on a nation like Samoa, where so many people are recovering from measles infections and have had their immune systems compromised.

There has been criticism of the Samoan government’s response to the measles outbreak, suggesting it was slow and led to the huge number of cases in the small nation. Altogether 5,707 cases of measles were reported to authorities since the epidemic began in October.

Related: 'These babies should not have died': How the measles outbreak took hold in Samoa

Experts have also pointed to the responsibility of New Zealand as the most popular gateway to Samoa to ensure that they are alert and implement safety measures from their end.

Otago University public health expert Michael Baker told RNZ: “You can have a requirement that people do not leave on flights from New Zealand to Pacific Islands if they have respiratory illnesses that could be coronavirus, say, or in the past it could have been measles.

“So, I think we have a huge responsibility to not export this disease to the Pacific,” he said.