Virus arrives along with aid in Tonga, triggering lockdown

Disaster-hit Tonga will go into lockdown Wednesday evening after the Pacific island nation reported two port workers who had been helping distribute international aid had become infected with the coronavirus

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Disaster-hit Tonga will go into lockdown Wednesday evening after the Pacific island nation reported two port workers who had been helping distribute international aid had become infected with the coronavirus.

The urgent announcement by Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni appeared to confirm fears among Tongan officials that the aid pouring in following a devastating volcanic eruption and tsunami last month could also usher in COVID-19 to a nation that had previously been living virus-free.

Indeed, officials had expressed concerns to relief workers that an outbreak of the virus could represent a bigger danger to Tonga than the tsunami, which killed three people and left dozens homeless. Foreign nations have been lining up to deliver aid, with ships and planes arriving from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Britain and China.

Those nations had promised to drop off their supplies of fresh water and medicine without coming into contact with anybody on the ground in Tonga, which usually requires incoming travelers to spend three weeks in quarantine.