SYDNEY – Covid outbreak aboard the Australian warship bound for Tonga with tons of aid for the islands overwhelmed by the eruption of the underwater volcano and the tsunami.
Tonga, NASA: the eruption “500 times stronger than the atomic bomb on Hiroshima”
At least 23 people on board the Hmas Adelaide, headed for the capital Nuku’alofa, tested positive, according to the Australian Defense Minister. Peter Dutton. “They are desperate but they don’t want to risk Covid,” Dutton told a Sky News. So far the South Pacific islands have been spared from the pandemic, and despite desperately needing help, they still haven’t given the go-ahead for delivery.
The Adelaide ship, which was scheduled to land in Tonga on Wednesday morning, carries Chinook helicopters capable of delivering aid and returning to the ship without navy personnel coming into contact with people ashore. “We are in the hands of the Tongan government,” the minister told reporters. “Our ship will stop or it will be able to carry and unload the equipment. We can do this by avoiding human contact and disinfecting the equipment. There are several options we are working on.”
The archipelago in the Pacific remains an area without coronavirus and has a very strict policy to avoid any type of risk. But now 84% of Tonga’s population, around 105,000 people, has been affected in one way or another by the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apa underwater volcano and the resulting tsunami ten days ago, which caused so far three victims.
“If Tonga insists that HMAS Adelaide must be Covid-free before disembarking aid, it could take tough weeks to manage,” said Jonathan Pryke, director of the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank. “Canberra believes it can deliver aid by avoiding contact. It would be a real shame if the ship were to turn back.”
Last week, a plane loaded with aid departing from Australia and bound for Tonga was forced to turn back after a case of Covid was discovered on board.
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Other Pacific nations, hitherto untouched by the virus, are starting to register some cases. Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands on Monday Manasseh Sogavare stated that the capital Honiara was hit by Covid. “I ask all residents living in the emergency area to respect the lockdown – he said – Until last week, the country of 700,000 inhabitants had no deaths and only 31 cases since the start of the pandemic”.