Fiji hopes to be able to declare the islands virus-free later in May.

South Pacific island nations have dodged the worst ravages of the coronavirus pandemic, but now face a stark choice between a risky reopening to tourists and economic collapse.

Most of these postcard-perfect archipelagoes have been spared outbreaks that would instantly overwhelm their barebones health systems.

Around a dozen Pacific island nations remain virus-free, most of them remote dots in the ocean that sealed their borders when they saw the carnage Covid-19 was causing elsewhere in the world.