COVID-19 pandemic in New Caledonia


The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the French overseas collectivity of New Caledonia on 18 March 2020. All cases are on the main island of Grand Terre and are related to travel abroad. On 7 May, all cases had recovered.

Background

On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.
The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003, but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.

Timeline

March 2020

On 17 March, President Thierry Santa announced plans to suspend all flights into the territory as a precautionary measure, with all visitors to self-quarantine, with non-compliance to be punished with a fine.
On 18 March, the first two cases in New Caledonia were confirmed.
Out of forty tests carried out on 21 March, two cases were confirmed, bringing the total number to 4.
On 25 March, four new cases were reported, bringing the total to fourteen.
On 27 March, one new case was reported. The case was imported and brought the collectivity's total to fifteen.

May 2020

On 7 May, all 18 patients had recovered. At the time there were no active cases.

July 2020

On 15 July, one new COVID-19 case was reported bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 22.