In our blog post of August 17, we had reported about TAPU or TABU , a very old concept in Polynesian cultures of a system of restrictions or prohibitions imposed by the head of the society, that is, by the clan chiefs.
Since the pandemic, this word has taken on another great meaning on Easter Island. No passenger planes have been coming to the island for about 5 months, and for the population living on Rapa Nui there are many "tapus": restrictions, such as a ban on gatherings, nighttime curfews, and the hygiene measures and mandatory masks that are also common here.
These tapu are ordered by the government and the mayor on the island, and find acceptance among the local population.
The island had thus managed to be Corona-free for many months. At the moment there are 4 cases, people who brought the disease with them during a planned return trip from the mainland to the island in early September.
So far it is not clear when the island will reopen to tourism, which for years represented up to 90% of the economic income on Easter Island. There are profound changes in the small island community and, of course, serious economic consequences. Fortunately, the government of Chile gives money and the community has been able to create jobs, so that there is a substitute for about 350 locals, despite their normal loss of work and income, with which they make ends meet until now.
The question is what will happen in the long run. Here, as in so many other places.
