[6] On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) 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.
[32] On 17 March 2020, 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.
[33] On 9 March 2021, French authorities implemented a 14-day lockdown on the territory after nine positive cases were detected among travelers from Wallis and Futuma.
[19] Due to rising cases in early September 2021, the New Caledonian government appealed for all medical and paramedical personnel including veterinarians to assist in efforts to combat COVID-19.
[22] On 10 September, New Caledonian members of the French Parliament appealed for France to send more medical personnel due to a shortage of specialists needed to staff the intensive care units at hospitals.
Local tabac presse (newsagency shops) were required to close but supermarkets were allowed to remain open.
High Commissioner Faure announced that 103 health workers from metropolitan France would arrive the following week, supplementing the 174 personnel already there.
The government said that the French military could set up ten intensive care units at the main Nouméa hospital and treat between 30 and 60 people over several weeks.
In addition, an air bridge was established between New Caledonia and France in order to reduce pressure on Nouméa hospital.
The New Caledonia authorities also established health passes needed to access restaurants, museums, and domestic air and ferry services.
The New Caledonian government also allowed small accommodation operators to reopen, subject to a range of conditions including obtaining heath passes.
[35] In late October 2021, the New Caledonian government imposed a new lockdown during the weekend of All Saints' Day due to the COVID-19 pandemic, banning the sale of alcohol and closing cemeteries.
Travellers entering New Caledonia must be fully vaccinated, undergo a test upon arrival, and spend a week in isolation either at a hotel or at home.
By early November, public life had largely resumed but the Government rescinded a decision to allow kava bars to reopen.
Theatres, professional meetings, concerts, exhibitions and marriages have been allowed to resume provided participants display a health pass.
[38] In mid-October 2021, the pro-independence FLKNS party called on the French Government to postpone the upcoming 2021 New Caledonian independence referendum scheduled for 12 December 2021 until 2022 due to the high COVID-19 infection rate and significant death toll within the Kanak community.
[40] In late October, French High Commissioner Patrice Faure announced that 1,400 police personnel including 15 mobile units would be dispatched from metropolitan France to ensure a "safe voting process" in December.
[41] A total of 260 New Caledonians had then died of COVID-19 following the archipelago's first surge of cases in early September, which prompted the local government to vote unanimously for compulsory vaccination of the entire adult population.
[39] Loyalists accused pro-independence campaigners of using the pandemic to justify postponing a referendum they were fearing to lose,[46][47][48] pointing out that the pandemic had cast the role of France in a good light following its dispatching of doctors and vaccine doses as well as injecting ten billion CFP francs to help the local economy.
[47] On 12 November, Faure confirmed that the independence referendum would still go ahead on 12 December considering the improvement of the epidemiological situation,[53] with daily new infections having fallen from to 40 from a peak of 272.
[56] Caroline Gravelat, from the University of New Caledonia, claimed that this was a political problem, but would not affect the result, "because the gap between the 'yes' and 'no' votes would probably not have narrowed to the point that the 'yes' side would have won.
Though the march breached the Government's 30 person limit on social gatherings, police did not break up the protest due to the presence of children.
[59] On 18 January, ReinfoCovid NC spokesperson Gaelle Wery was arrested by police for her role in organising the Nouméa protest.
[60] In early November 2021, New Caledonia's international airline Aircalin has sought US$30 million in loans for the relaunch and expansion of its network in 2022.