The Micronesian community is being disproportionately harmed by COVID-19

Pacific Islanders (non-Hawaiian Polynesians and Micronesians) are among the more recent groups to add to Hawaiʻi’s vibrancy, bringing with them strong values of faith and family. This includes Samoans, Tongans, Fijians, and Micronesians from three independent nations that have Compacts of Free Association (COFA) with the United States: The Marshall Islands, Palau, and the Federated States of Micronesia. COFA status recognizes the contributions of people from these nations who have been strategic partners of America. 

Since the 1980s, COFA migrants have been able to freely live and work in the U.S. Although estimates vary, there were roughly 18,500 COFA migrants living in Hawaiʻi as of 2018.

Data reported by the state Department of Health show that the recent COVID-19 surge in Hawaiʻi has disproportionately impacted Pacific Islanders, who account for just 4 percent of the state population, but 30 percent of all cases here. (“Pacific Islanders” as a category is problematic in and of itself as it erases an immense diversity of experiences.)

While Pacific Islanders come to Hawaiʻi to work, raise families, and contribute to the social fabric, data shows that Micronesians in particular experience poorer health and greater poverty than any other Pacific Islander group. This is due to a range of external factors, including the severe impacts of U.S. militarism, systemic racism, cultural erasure or disconnect, and language barriers. Public policy, created with input from the community itself, can address these factors and reverse the trends we see in the data.

Almost a third of Micronesians are employed in the accommodation and food services sector, compared to 14 percent of the non-COFA population. This puts them in harm's way as essential workers, more likely to be exposed to the coronavirus. About half of COFA migrants live below the poverty line and that, combined with the high cost of housing, contribute to COFA migrants living in households that are more crowded than the state average. This also puts them at increased risk to share coronavirus infections.

Micronesians are likely to experience some of the chronic health conditions that are shown to increase the complications of COVID-19. They are often hospitalized earlier—20 years earlier than people of Japanese descent for cardiac issues—and with more severe illnesses. In 2015, COFA migrants were moved from the state’s Med-Quest system to private health insurance in an effort to cut costs. As a result, 10 percent of COFA migrants lack health insurance altogether, forcing many of them to delay medical care.

Given the precarious situation in which COVID-19 places the Micronesian community, the State of Hawaiʻi should have taken active and early steps to reach out and involve them in preventive activities. The community is ready, willing, and asking to make this happen immediately.  

It is equally necessary for the state government to tackle the root problems that exacerbate the spread of coronavirus within this community: ensure access to health insurance coverage, decent housing, and economic opportunity. The legacy of the coronavirus should be a stronger Micronesian community.