A Covid outbreak has struck a vital Australian rescue ship en route to tsunami-ravaged Tonga. The crew of the HMAS Adelaide, which left Australia on Friday, was infected with Covid in 23 cases.
It comes as Tonga urgently tries to keep Covid from reaching its beaches, as additional humanitarian relief arrives in the Pacific Island.
Defence Minister Peter Dutton of Australia has sworn not to put the Tongan people in danger. The HMAS Adelaide will continue on its trip to Tonga as planned, arriving on Wednesday, according to the Australian Department of Defence. In a statement, it stated that it will guarantee that its supplies were supplied in a “Covid-safe manner”
To far, Tonga has only had one verified Covid case, which occurred in October 2021. Authorities have emphasized the importance of delivering help in a contactless manner in order to avoid spreading the illness.
Australia has already dispatched military transport planes delivering relief supplies, but the HMAS Adelaide warship is carrying a larger consignment of much needed help, including engineering equipment, water, and shelter.
According to the Department of Defence, the HMAS Adelaide has over 600 crew members and medical facilities on board, including a 40-bed hospital and a critical care wing.
This is the second assistance cargo from Australia to be contaminated with Covid; last week, a C-17 jet had to turn around mid-flight when a crew member was diagnosed with the disease.
Tonga is still reeling from the effects of a cataclysmic undersea volcanic eruption that struck the South Pacific island country few weeks ago.
The explosion created a tsunami that NASA said was hundreds of times more powerful than the WWII atomic bombs, causing enormous destruction and killing three people.
Officials estimate that the tsunami and volcanic ashfall have harmed four-fifths of the population, posing a public health concern to Tonga’s 105,000 people.
The tragedies and subsequent rescue attempts have jeopardized Tonga’s capacity to stay Covid-free, despite the fact that just one incidence of illness was documented in October.
Authorities are keen to maintain it that way, because the isolation of some of its island settlements, many of which have minimal healthcare services, renders them particularly vulnerable to an outbreak.
Last week, aid aircraft from Australia and New Zealand arrived in Tonga with crucial supplies, but the products were transferred in an uncontactable manner. When a COVID-19 case was found mid-flight, one Australian assistance flight was ordered to return to base.
A New Zealand assistance vessel arrived last week, and additional help is on its way by air and sea from New Zealand, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
The United Nations, Red Cross, and other aid organizations on the ground in Tonga have warned that a COVID-19 epidemic would be disastrous at this time.