Samoa spared from the COVID 19 pandemic. By Tim Tufuga

As we mark the 300,000 COVID 19 death milestone, we ponder the likely end date of the pandemic worldwide, as we, in Australia and New Zealand ease off on our COVID 19 restrictions.

It is without any doubt if COVID 19 were considered an ideological war to undermine the economic strength of the Western world, through an act of Bioterrorism then COVID 19 has succeeded where either the War on Terror and the COLD WAR could not.

Undermining the economic confidence of European, North American, Central America and South American economies have been achieved by the COVID 19 pandemic.

China, Africa and the Middle East seem to have been spared the ravages and extraordinary death tolls presently experienced in the United States, Britain, Italy, Spain and France today. Elsewhere, it seems strange, but, Brazil is the only country outside of Europe and the United States that seem to have a great number of COVID 19 deaths.

The rest of the world the death toll from COVID 19 seems minimal in comparison.

Samoa, again is a minority in this group, along with Tonga and some Pacific Islands that have not recorded any instance of COVID 19 cases.

If there was a Polynesian God then you'd suggest that he must have been very vengeful against the rest of the world. Especially for the Samoans who had suffered from the recent Measles epidemic which resulted in 0.041 % of their population dying from the epidemic.

Before the Measles Epidemic the Spanish Flu had claimed 22% of the Samoan population whereas the world had suffered near on 5% of their local population dying from the Spanish flu in 1919.

A hundred years later, one hundred and one to be more accurate, the world is afflicted with yet another pandemic, the COVID 19 pandemic.

Regardless of the extraordinary death toll throughout all of Europe and elsewhere, the likelihood of a comparative death toll experienced by the sparsely populated Pacific Islands some 101 years ago, like the 22% of the Samoan population. The larger populated nations of the world will never experience this National catastrophe.

Today 22% of Britain's population would equal 15 million Britain's dying from Spanish Flu.

Or 22% of the American Population 79 million Americans dying from the Spanish flu. Or from todays pandemic, COVID 19 today.

But, taking population comparisons, we can not come to terms with the staggering numbers of deaths from the present COVID 19 pandemic, as we look to the view the crest of the pandemic we expect the downward curve will begin within the next three months or so.

A final number of the COVID 19 pandemic death toll may eventually surpass half a million people throughout the world and if all the true COVID 19 cases were truly aggregated and documented worldwide, the numbers may be even higher. We may in fact be looking at only the tip of the iceberg if the rest of the world were to reveal accurately their COVID 19 cases.

But, as a Samoan, I am thankful that this is one pandemic Samoans have thankfully avoided through their splendid isolation from the rest of the world.

Tim Tufuga


Timoteo Tufuga