Moorea Island, French Polynesia (illustration). – Daniel Julie / Wikipedia Commons
In normal times, Hinareva Deane and Hinatea Bechennec would be preparing their bac. But with the test canceled because of the coronavirus, the two high school girls can bask in a swimsuit on Lafayette beach, north of Tahiti, where the deconfinement started.
“Continuous monitoring, it actually suits us! “Laughs Hinareva, a good student guaranteed to have his bac thanks to his grades from the first semester.
Beaches and surf spots were crowded on Wednesday, the official day of “lightening the confinement” decided by the high commissioner of Polynesia, well before the metropolis. But several measures remain, such as the suspension of air rotations, barrier gestures, or the closure of schools, at least until May 18.
Polynesia currently lists only 58 people affected by the coronavirus. Tahiti, the most populated island, and Moorea, the neighboring island, which concentrated the majority of the cases, were the last in the archipelago to begin this “alleviation”, the other islands having started since April 20.
Almost all businesses have reopened. The restaurants, closed since March 20, have welcomed people. But not as much as fast food. In downtown Papeete, the McDonald’s drive-in had to offer a special route through the streets to avoid paralyzing traffic.
“My husband and my daughter missed it too much, so we’re going to order a lot,” says Heimiti Tarahu, a client who is patient while driving. This craze angered some activists who demonstrated in front of motorists, anti-junk food signs in hand. “We have an incredible rate of obesity and diabetes, it should be prohibited, we have proven with alcohol that we could do it!”, Indignant Moea Pereyre, one of the demonstrators.
Alcohol was banned for several weeks during confinement and its sale is still restricted in Polynesia.
Distance from “six cocos”
A little further, a couple tries to fit a variegated cloth mask on the face of a young child. A doctor has just distributed them to this family of fishermen from Takaroa, a Tuamotu atoll.
“I came to give birth to my third child before confinement, we could not leave,” regrets Cindy Tufariua. The couple had to rent an apartment in disaster, and awaits the reopening of inter-island flights.
In the absence of surgical masks in sufficient number, the population is invited to make them out of fabric, or to buy them from craftsmen at the price of 500 Pacific francs (a little more than 4 euros). Many already wear them, the ultimate being to make them in the same fabric as their shirt or dress.
Accustomed to kissing themselves, Tahitians also learn to give up this custom. Local authorities have adapted the guidelines for social distancing to Polynesian sauce: the Ministry of Tourism recommends a space of “six coconuts” between two people, while the Economic Council recommends to space them “twelve tupa” (crabs, in Tahitian ).
Satisfied with the reopening of shops, the president of the CPME, Christophe Plée, however deplores the fact that half of the requests from companies to obtain aid from the solidarity fund were rejected for technical errors. “It is 180,000 francs (1,500 euros) for March but also for April, so it is imperative that licensees and business leaders go and seek these funds which are available to help those who have lost a lot,” he said. -he declares.
The confinement and total cessation of tourism, the main resource of the community, has weakened the entire local economy.
Authorities remain hopeful that they have brought the epidemic under control, but give themselves until May 13 to announce further deconfinement measures. For the moment, public gatherings are prohibited, as are travel from one island to another, except between Tahiti and Moorea. And the discos, cinemas and sports halls remain closed.
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