Deadly cyclone threatens Vanuatu's coronavirus-free status

PORT VILA • A deadly Pacific cyclone intensified as it hit Vanuatu yesterday, threatening a natural disaster that experts fear will undermine the impoverished nation's battle to remain coronavirus-free.

Tropical Cyclone Harold, which killed 27 when it swept through the Solomon Islands last week, strengthened to a scale-topping Category 5 superstorm overnight, Vanuatu's meteorology service said.

The cyclone is now packing winds of up to 235kmh, prompting red alerts across several provinces.

It made landfall on the remote east coast of Espiritu Santo Island yesterday morning and was heading directly for Vanuatu's second-largest town Luganville, which has a population of 16,500.

The slow-moving storm was expected to pass north of the capital Port Vila early today.

"For now, we don't have any reports of injury, but lots of damage," Red Cross Vanuatu secretary-general Jacqueline De Gaillande told Agence France-Presse.

Another concern is the impact that a large natural disaster could have on Vanuatu's attempts to remain one of the world's few countries without any reported coronavirus infections. The nation has sealed its international borders to avoid the virus, but emergency measures, including bans on public meetings, have been temporarily suspended so people can gather in evacuation centres.

"There have been no confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Vanuatu, but a significant disaster at this time could present serious logistical challenges to delivering life-saving aid," Oxfam's Vanuatu director Elizabeth Faerua said.

A major international relief effort was needed the last time a Category 5 system, Cyclone Pam, hit Vanuatu in 2015.

If a similar operation were needed in the wake of Cyclone Harold, it would run the risk of importing the virus to a nation that lacks the health infrastructure to deal with even a mild outbreak.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has raised concerns about the cyclone and said the Kiwi military was ready to deploy if needed, even though New Zealand is on Covid-19 lockdown.

"(Harold) looks like it's coming into the Pacific with considerable force," she told reporters. "Our defence force is at the ready, that's the role they play regardless of what's going on in New Zealand."

Cyclone Pam in 2015 flattened Port Vila, killed 11 people and left a swathe of destruction that the World Bank estimated wiped out almost two-thirds of Vanuatu's economic capacity.

Red Cross' Ms De Gaillande said Vanuatu's government could face a delicate balancing act between helping cyclone-devastated communities and potentially importing the virus by allowing in international aid.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 07, 2020, with the headline Deadly cyclone threatens Vanuatu's coronavirus-free status. Subscribe