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, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.
[8] The President of Palau Thomas Remengesau Jr. issued an executive order suspending all charter flights from China, Macau, and Hong Kong from 1–29 February 2020.
[11] The order also quarantined all non-citizens who recently entered the country for fourteen days.
[13] The following month Palauan Minister of Health Emais Roberts said that the Taiwan bubble had become a "mute[sic] issue now" due to travel restrictions introduced between the countries as a result of Taiwan's rising COVID-19 cases.
[8] As a member of the Compact of Free Association with the United States, Palau has received vaccines from Operation Warp Speed.