A scene in the aftermath of the tsunami
(Picture: My Tongan / FACEBOOK)Tsunami-hit Tonga has gone into lockdown after two wharf workers tested positive for Covid, prompting the previously virus-free nation to go into lockdown on Wednesday.
The move comes as foreign navies send aid to the country after a devastating volcanic eruption last month.
The lockdown will require people to stay at home, with only essential services allowed to operate.
According to some reports, the two port workers were helping to distribute aid around the isolated Pacific nation, where the tsunami had disrupted the fresh water supply, cut communications and left dozens homeless.
The Australian navy ship, HMAS Adelaide, was known to have 23 Covid cases onboard when it docked at Vuna wharf last week and offloaded 250 pallets of aid to a quarantine zone.
However, Tonga’s deputy head of mission in Australia, Curtis Tu’ihalangingie, told Reuters the two cases were detected at a wharf not used by HMAS Adelaide.
The delivery of aid would not change as a result of the Covid cases, he said, adding, "frontliners will need to be more careful".
The Australian Defence Force’s Chief of Joint Operations Greg Bilton said there was “no evidence” the ship was the source of the outbreak and samples from the two dock workers would be sent to Australia for testing to verify the origin.
The dock workers were both vaccinated, said government officials.
Crew members aboard aid flights from Japan and Australia have also reported infections.
Tongan radio station BroadcomFM reported on Wednesday another three cases had been detected in a family, bringing total case numbers to five.
Residents queued at shops and banks on Wednesday ahead of a lockdown to start at 6pm, while health officials ramped giving out booster shots.
Around 83 per cent of the eligible population have received two doses of vaccine.
In addition to HMAS Adelaide, three New Zealand and one British naval ships, and two Chinese fishing ships from Fiji have come into port and unloaded aid pallets. French, Japanese and Chinese navy ships are on their way carrying aid.
The Tongan government has insisted on contactless delivery of aid, and all pallets unloaded from aircraft or ships are isolated for 72 hours before being distributed by the local emergency service.
