NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga: A coronavirus-hit Australian warship docked in Tonga on Wednesday, providing desperately needed aid to the volcano-and-tsunami-hit nation under strict “no-contact” protocols.
Tongan Health Minister Sia Piukla said the crew of HMAS Adelaide would follow rigorous health protocols to ensure that the remote Pacific kingdom is one of the few places in the world still free from COVID-19 Is.
“The ship will be berthed and no contact will be made. Australians will unload their cargo from the ship and leave the port,” he told reporters.
Adelaide was deployed as part of an international aid effort after the January 15 eruption, which generated massive tsunami waves and covered the island nation in toxic ash.
The warship is carrying around 80 tonnes of relief material, including water, medical kits and engineering equipment.
Despite all crew members testing negative prior to departure from Brisbane, officials in Canberra said on Tuesday that 23 coronavirus cases had been detected on the ship.
Piukala said that by Wednesday this number had increased to 29.
More than 600 of the ship’s crew have been fully vaccinated, and the Australian Defense Force said on Tuesday that the initial 23 patients were asymptomatic or only mildly affected.
It said the ship has a 40-bed hospital, which includes an operating theater and a critical care ward.
Piyukala said contactless protocols were being implemented for all relief supplies, including those aboard HMAS Adelaide, meaning that all cargo disembarked from foreign aircraft or ships would be isolated for three days before being handled by Tongans. I will be abandoned.
The ship is said to have carried about 250,000 liters (66,000 US gallons) of water, buckets, jerry cans and portable field-testing kits that can now be dismounted.
Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton said on Tuesday, “We can spray the equipment in a contactless manner so that the chances of spreading the virus are minimal.”
“Under no circumstances will we compromise the health and well-being of Tongues who have already made a concerted effort against the virus by protecting themselves, and the virus does not exist on the island.”
But coronavirus restrictions are already hindering the aid effort in other ways.
Japan has announced that its aid plane will halt trips between Australia and Tonga due to four COVID-19 cases among mission staff.
“We are ensuring that the impact on the mission is minimal, and once our review of the anti-infection measures is complete, we will continue with the mission,” a Defense Ministry official said.
Tonga closed its borders in early 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic caused havoc around the world.
Since then, the nation of 100,000 has recorded just one COVID-19 case, a man who returned from New Zealand in October last year and has since made a full recovery.
However, the devastating eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai volcano, located about 65 kilometers north of the capital Nuku’alofa, has led to what has been described by the Tongan government as an “unprecedented disaster”.
Entire villages were washed away by the tsunami, while ash poisoned the water supply and destroyed crops.
Remarkably, there have been only three deaths, which the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA said was thanks to effective early warnings issued by the Tongan government.
The OCHA said communications broken by the blast were being gradually restored and assessment teams were visiting inaccessible areas to assess the full scale of the disaster.
It said 85 percent of Tonga’s population has been affected, with access to safe water, ash removal and food supply being the main priorities.
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