The Vanuatu Council of Ministers has agreed at its meeting held in Luganville, Santo, to postpone the hosting of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting due in August 2020, reports the Vanuatu Daily Post.

The decision followed the recommendations of the National Task Force based on the “uncertainty and the economic impacts” the country is facing with the covid-19 pandemic and recent Tropical Cyclone Harold.

Vanuatu has had no reported cases of covid-19.

The government has mandated the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to liaise with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat on the postponement.

The ministry will also negotiate with Fiji to seek a possibility for Vanuatu to host the meeting in 2021.

In Suva, the PIF secretariat today confirmed Vanuatu’s request to defer the 51st Forum Meeting scheduled for 4-7 August 2020 to next year in light of the covid-19 pandemic.

The chair of the Pacific Islands Forum and Prime Minister of Tuvalu, Kausea Natano, will consult the Forum Membership and advise on the next meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum.

Solomon Islands students studying at universities in Fiji have braved the rain to donate food, clothing and cash to 18 families who were badly affected by last month’s Tropical Cyclone Harold.

Solomon Islands Students Association (SISA) president Peter Maclean and Solomon Islands Education Attaché to Fiji Francis Tavava led the relief distribution programme this week with the help of an officer from the Fiji National Disaster Management Office.

Tavava said Solomon Islands students were honoured to be given the opportunity to reach out to the victims of the cyclone that devastated parts of Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu for almost two weeks.

READ MORE: Thousands of cyclone victims still in evacuation centre in Vanuatu

“We know that Fiji government has taken care of us over the past months, during the peak of covid-19 and TC Harold and we want to assist in a small way to give back to the people and government of Fiji for being good to us,” he said.

Tavava said the donation was made possible through the contributions from Solomon Islands students when the call was made after TC Harold.

NDMO Central branch district officer Vatia Vasuca said the government and operational centres had been working tirelessly to help TC Harold victims restore their lives and move forward.

He told the SISA disaster relief distribution team that the donation contributed well towards the government’s ongoing relief programme effort.

‘Assistance a bonus’
“Your assistance is a bonus to our ongoing effort and ambition to help the families get back on their lives and move forward,” he said.

Student leader Maclean said the damage caused by TC Harold was immense and the students were pleased to be able to visit affected families.

He said the visit was a memory students from the Solomon Islands would cherish.

“I must acknowledge the students who came up with the idea to raise funds and help our host government and its people who gave us an opportunity to come and study here,” he said.

“During each presentation it was mentioned to each affected families by the NMDO team leader that these were the humble donations from SISA. The term ‘Solomon Islands’ was consistently used and it was moving to see how respective families were so emotional to receive their necessities.

“This shows that the great value of kindness, respect and compassion of Melanesianhood is still in the hearts of our students,” Maclean said.

“My humble acknowledgement goes to all parents, families, people, leaders, mentors and communities back in Solomon Islands for positively nurturing these respective SISA students to be noble thinkers and actors.”

Ben Bilua is a final-year Solomon Islands journalism student at the University of the South Pacific’s Laucala campus in Suva, Fiji. He is also the online student editor of Wansolwara, USP Journalism’s student training newspaper and online publications.

Across the globe, the coronavirus pandemic has prompted countries and governments to become increasingly inward-looking. Australia is not immune to this.

One of the effects of this situation has been that the “Pacific Step-up” appears to have dropped entirely off the political radar.

The step-up is – or was – the signature foreign policy of the Morrison government. Although it predates Scott Morrison becoming prime minister, under his leadership it had really come to the fore.

READ MORE: Despite its Pacific ‘step-up’, Australia is still not listening to the region, new research shows

We saw an increase in ministerial visits to the region, a ramping up of labour mobility opportunities for Pacific islanders, and the establishment of a A$2 billion infrastructure financing facility.

So, how does the Pacific Step-up need to evolve to help respond to the challenges posed by coronavirus?

It is important to acknowledge that Australia and the island members of the “Pacific family” share more than just an ocean. They have many common challenges. Addressing them requires sharing resources.

The coronavirus response presents an opportunity to move the Pacific Step-Up from something that is done “to” or “for” the Pacific to something that Australia does “with” the Pacific.

Time for real respect
It is too easy for the Australian media (and indeed the Australian public) to perpetuate the trope that Pacific people are helpless – chronic victims who need to be rescued from whatever calamity has most recently befallen them.

Now is the time for Australian policymakers to step up and demonstrate real respect for their Pacific counterparts.

On top of the increasingly devastating effects of climate change, Pacific island countries are now managing the twin challenges of a potential public health emergency and its severe economic ramifications.

When it comes to the former, the focus has been on prevention. Many countries took swift and significant steps to minimise the risk of the virus entering their communities. Borders have been closed, restrictions on movements enforced and health and medical systems enhanced.

Pacific island countries are also already feeling the economic impacts of the global shutdown. This is particularly evident in those countries that rely on tourism and remittances for revenue, livelihoods and employment.

Several countries have moved quickly and decisively to introduce economic support and stimulus packages to meet some of the most pressing needs of their populations. Maintaining these into the medium and longer term will be a challenge.

In Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and Tonga, the impacts of the recent Tropical Cyclone Harold are presenting additional challenges. Reaching Category 5 strength, it caused more than 30 deaths and left large amounts of damage and destruction in its wake.

Australia and other partners (particularly France and New Zealand) have provided assistance to government agencies in the region that are charged with responding to disasters of this type.

Geo-strategic anxiety
In the Pacific, and among many Australian commentators, it is widely acknowledged that the step-up is driven largely by geo-strategic anxiety about the growing influence of China in the Pacific islands region. Coronavirus has done little to dilute this angst.

In some instances, it appears to have accentuated it. Certainly, China has made it abundantly clear it is ready, willing and able to be a friend in need for Pacific island countries.

A more sophisticated and nuanced Pacific Step-up that addresses the challenges posed by coronavirus provides Australia with an opportunity to demonstrate to Pacific counterparts its ability and willingness to offer something that is different and more valuable than is available elsewhere.

This can take one or more of several forms. First of all, Australia should continue to advocate to the global community the need to provide tailored financial support to Pacific island countries. This must include lobbying for meaningful debt relief to underpin economic recovery.

The IMF has already made some moves in this regard. Australia has also moved quickly in relation to its most recent loan to PNG. When the Pacific Islands Forum’s finance and economic ministers meet online in the near future, this will likely be on the agenda. Australia should look to have something concrete to put forward in support of this, including offers to lobby the G7 and G20.

Recently, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters raised the possibility of a New Zealand-Australia “bubble” based on low numbers of infections in both countries. He saw this as a basis for reopening the borders to allow for freer movement of people and goods.

‘Pacific bubble’ option
“Pacific island countries that have no covid-19 cases – there are several – should look to be part of a “Pacific bubble” if this conversation goes forward. This would maintain Pacific islanders’ participation in labour mobility schemes.

Australia and New Zealand are also the key markets for Pacific tourism. The sooner tourists can be welcomed back to the resorts and beaches, the sooner island livelihoods can be restored.

The rhetoric of the Pacific Step-Up has been couched in terms such as “Pacific family”. We now need to know what this means for how Australia can and will support Pacific states and communities in the face of coronavirus.

Dr Tess Newton Cain is adjunct associate professor at Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

On Easter Sunday, Fiji had 16 cases of Covid-19 (see Fiji clusters image). Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama announced Fiji’s first confirmed case of Covid on 19 March, 2020 – a flight attendant on a Fiji Airways flight from San Francisco to Nadi who roamed around Lautoka and attending Zumba class before feeling ill.

The Fiji announcement was made within a week of the arrival of the WHO test kits. An isolation unit, just outside of the capital city Suva had been staffed since January, along with a test facility set up in February.

Coincident with the announcement of the first Covid case, Prime Minister Bainimarama announced the suspension of all Fiji Airways flights through May 29, a 14-day lockdown of the port city of Lautoka, isolation of the ill patient. his family and close contacts with thorough contact tracing, a 10pm to 5am curfew, a ban on gatherings of more than 20 people, and a call for social distancing.

READ MORE: Al Jazeera coronavirus live updates – Conformed cases top 2.5 million worldwide

• Other Pacific coronavirus reports

With case number 5, inter-island transport of people was suspended to prevent the spread of Covid-19 among the islands.

On Thursday, April 2, with the announcement of cases 6 and 7 – haircutters in two separate popular local hair salons – Suva was locked down, and contact sports, including touch rugby, a national pastime, and social gatherings, including customary kava gatherings, were forbidden.

The curfew was extended from 8pm to 5am. The contact tracing for case #9, father of case #7 identified 830 contacts.

A woman and her son, with a history of possible Covid exposure, arrived on our remote island at 10pm on April 2, potentially compromising the health of 139 people on the island who had just completed a 14-day island quarantine.

The violation of the ban on interisland transport plus subsequent quarantine violations made the national news. Hundreds of people have been charged for quarantine and curfew violations.

Two rugby players were arrested and placed in isolation after violating quarantine restrictions.

On April 16, Fiji extended the quarantine period from 14 to 28 days for returning citizens and 28 days of isolation for positive Covid-19 cases.

According to the WHO situation report #83 released on April 12, Easter Sunday, 16 Pacific countries and territories remained free of confirmed Covid-19 cases: American Samoa, Cook Islands , Federated States of Micronesia , Kiribati , Nauru , Niue , Palau , Pitcairn, Republic of the Marshall Islands , Samoa , Solomon Islands , Tokelau , Tonga , Tuvalu , Vanuatu , and Wallis and Futuna.

By April 22, independent Pacific island countries of Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste have seven and 23 confirmed cases of Covid-19 respectively.

By comparison, the French associated territories of French Polynesia have 56 cases, and New Caledonia has 18 cases. The US territories of the Northern Mariana Islands has 14 Covid-19 cases (two deaths), and Guam, home to a US military base, reported 136 Covid-19 cases (5 deaths). However, the April 12 issue of The New York Times reports 585 cases on the USS Theodore Roosevelt docked in Guam, including the now famous Captain Crozier, fired for speaking up on behalf of his men.

Covid-19 and Tropical Cyclone Harold
With Fiji, the Pacific and the world anxious about Covid, Tropical Cyclone Harold spun into existence and began its devastating Easter path across the Pacific. Imagine trying to practise shelter at home and social distancing while simultaneously preparing for a tropical cyclone that was gaining ferocity.

Windows were boarded, evacuation centers were prepared and adequate food and clean water were secured where possible. Generators were serviced and tested.

In early April, while awaiting confirmation of the first case of Covid-19, the Solomon Islands government ordered city dwellers to return to their home villages to reduce the density of people in the capital of Honiara in Guadalcanal and to provide security of place.

On April 4, some 600 Are Are residents of Honiara and Malaita boarded the MV Taemarehu ferry to make their way home.

MV Taemarehu ran into the rough seas generated by Tropical Cyclone Harold, then rated as category one. Twenty-seven people were washed overboard and reported missing.

Solomon Islands has no confirmed cases of Covid, partly due the difficulty of transporting tests to Australia when all aircraft into and out of the Solomon Islands are grounded. The situation is beautifully described in an article by the ever insightful Transform Aqorau, the Solomon Islands permanent representative to the UN, now stranded in New York City.

By Monday, April 6, Tropical Cyclone Harold had intensified to category 5 (Australian scale) with wind speeds in excess of 198 km/h. Four northern islands of the independent nation of Vanuatu: Santo, Pentecost, Ambrym, and Malo were directly hit by the TC Harold.

Luckily, TC Harold arrived on Santo with the low tide. Luganville, on the island of Santo, the second most populous city of Vanuatu, suffered tremendous damage and is struggling to provide food, power and water.

The Vanuatu Daily Post reported the following from Luganville:

“For Lord Mayor Patty Peter, the experience was overwhelming. In an emotional phone call to media in Port Vila Tuesday. he said, ‘We urgently need water, food and shelter at the moment. Many have lost their homes. Schools are destroyed. Electricity is down. I’m urgently calling for help. This is one of the worst experiences of my life.'”

Lord Mayor Peter later confirmed that food and water were being distributed, but “just for today and tomorrow. That’s all that we can do”.

The town has shrugged off smaller cyclones countless times in the past. “But this one, like, it’s a nightmare. It’s a nightmare for all the people in the northern islands,” said Peter.

One of my PhD students has launched a social media campaign to rebuild his family home, and his neighbor’s homes in Luganville after they more than 50 percent of the buildings were destroyed by TC Harold.

Montin Romone, a ni-Vanuatu master’s student in climate change at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji, says in an e-mail:

“My family on North Malekula are safe despite all the root crops have been totally destroyed. Yesterday, I also was informed by my family on Malakula that my dad’s smaller brother died at Santo hospital when TC Harold blew off the roof of the emergency room he was sleeping in. He was so panic as there were no doctors around as well. No electricity due to power cut by the hurricane. Only my smaller brother was there but could not do anything to protect him so he finally died at 1:00 am on that night. As doctors did not allow him to be put into the cold room, so my brother with the help of 4 other boys had to dig a hole in the municipal cemetery and bury him that evening.

“Otherwise, family on Malekula are safe. Unfortunately, I lost two of my cattle but its better than losing another family member.”

With no confirmed cases of Covid, Vanuatu, has forbidden any relief workers from entering the country. Vanuatu will manage the TC Harold relief themselves, and permit delivery of specifically requested supplies.

All incoming supplies are subject to a three day quarantine in the capital before being shipped to the Northern Islands.

Since Vanuatu was hit by record-setting TC Pam in March 2015, the government has committed to building internal capacity for disaster relief. During TC Pam, managing the relief workers and their individual agendas proved to be more difficult than the relief work itself. Recognising the challenge of managing Covid in a small country with limited resources, and only two ventilators, Vanuatu declared a state of emergency and closed its borders in February.

In Covid-19 efforts to repatriate non-citizens, Fiji Airways airlifted at least two flights of expatriates out of the Pacific Islands just hours before Tropical Cyclone Harold arrived.

By 2am on Thursday, April 8, TC Harold’s winds arrived on the main island of Fiji’s Viti Levu on a more northerly, and more populated, track than originally forecast. The incoherent eyewall spun off two tornadoes one in Nausori and another in Tailevu.

TC Harold generated substantial damages through many of Fiji’s more than 300 islands. TC Harold arrived in Kadavu at midday with the king tide and impacted the small island communities of Buliya, Dravuni, and Narikoso in Astrolabe Reef in the Ono district.

A state of disaster for the next 30 days has been declared for the Viti Levu’s Central and Western divisions including Tailevu North, Korovou, Nausori, Nakasi, Beqa and Yanuca and in the district of Nadarivatu, Vatulele, Mamanuca Group, the Yasawa Group, coastal communities in the Coral Coast and along the Sigatoka River in the Nadroga/Navosa province, and the Southern Lau Island group on Fiji’s southeastern perimeter.

During the night of April 8, TC Harold left Fiji to continue onto Tonga passing south of the capital island of Tongatapu. The capital of Nuku’alofa experienced the worst storm surge ever seen when TC Harold arrived in the early morning hours of April 9 accompanying the king tide of the full moon.

The swathe of destruction focused on E’ua Island and several resorts on the north side of Tongatapu. The Tonga “no plastics” campaign has organised clean up campaigns on the seawall in Nuku’alofa.

Tonga has no confirmed cases of Covid-19. Tonga declared a state of emergency on 19 March 2020, closing its borders completely when Fiji announced its first Covid-19 case.

Climate change, disaster risk management and Covid-19
Fiji and the Pacific leaders work to lead with the concept of stewardship motivating their action. The 2016 anniversary of record setting Tropical Cyclone Winston was in February, just days after Fiji had been the first country in the world to ratify the 2015 Paris Agreement.

With a population of less than a million people, Fiji went on to be both the President of the UN to host the UN Oceans Conference and serve as President of the UNFCCC COP23 in 2017.

Similarly, the 2015 record setting Tropical Cyclone Pam crashed into Port Vila, Efate, Vanuatu during the negotiation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. Development donor investments in the region are guided by the Framework for Resilient Development which recognised the need to simultaneously address disaster preparedness, climate change and development of low carbon economies.

Symbolic of the collective nature of Pacific culture, Prime Minister Bainimarama calls upon Fiji to honour the power of the spirit of “vei lomani” – that profound sense of love and devotion to the protection of our people.

The Pacific leaders are determined to lead by example to prevent the devastation of Covid in their countries. With the fresh memory of late 2019 measles epidemic in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and American Samoa resulting in 83 deaths in Samoa, Samoan borders were closed in February.

None of the independent Pacific countries have robust medical or epidemiological research programmes, yet these leaders acted on the basis of science while leaders of other countries were still debating whether stay at home measures were required.

Pacific Islands countries suffered tremendously from the diseases brought by early explorers, including smallpox, measles, syphilis and gonorrhea. In recognition of their limited resources and the advantages of their remote location, Pacific countries have acted early to protect themselves and close their borders, with considerable success to date.

The alarm and fear accompanying Covid is a galvanising action. Papua New Guinea with an abundance of natural resources and people, but plagued by a lack of adequate medical facilities and decades of struggles will likely face the greatest challenges in dealing with Covid-19.

In recognition of the importance of UN support agencies, like the UN’s World Health Organisation, the Pacific leaders welcomed the WHO director Dr Tedras Adhanom Ghehreyesus to the 50th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders meeting last August, establishing an effective network of relations just months before the arrival of Covid-19.

Professor Elisabeth Holland is the director of the Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development (PaCE-SD) at the University of the South Pacific. In 2007, she was a co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

There are now more than 220 confirmed cases across the Pacific Islands region (excluding Australia and New Zealand) and six deaths.

This week brought into sharp relief the true nature of vulnerability and risk in the Pacific Islands region as Tropical Cyclone Harold left death and destruction in its wake.

In Solomon Islands, more than 20 people were feared dead after being swept off a boat that was transporting passengers from Honiara to Malaita following a government instruction that everyone in the capital who could go home should do so.

As the cyclone intensified and headed to Vanuatu, the government relaxed its Covid-19 state of emergency measures, which restrict gatherings to no more than five people, to allow people to shelter together in mass evacuation centres.

As the enormity of the economic impact of the pandemic became clear the World Bank announced a $US14 billion finance package for east Asia and the Pacific to support their Covid-19 response.

This follows Asian Development Bank predictions of significant economic contraction across the region, particularly in tourism-reliant countries.

The foreign ministers of the nations that make up the Pacific Islands Forum held an online meeting on Tuesday to discuss a regional response to Covid-19, including how to work with development partners to create a “humanitarian corridor” to get urgent supplies into countries that have effectively closed their borders.

Republished with permission from Pacific Outlook at Griffith Asia Insights. Click here to read this full “Coronavirus in the Pacific: weekly briefing” article published by The Guardian‘s Pacific Project.

By the Pacific Project

Tropical Cyclone Harold lashed Vanuatu, ripping off roofs and downing telecommunications, before moving towards Fiji and Tonga.

The powerful cyclone made landfall on Monday in Sana province, an island north of Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila, with winds as high as 235 kilometres an hour.

Aerial videos showed buildings with missing roofs, with some flattened to the ground from the impact of the cyclone.

The weather system weakened slightly as it moved towards Fiji but still brought high winds and flooding before moving towards Tonga.

This video is from The Guardian’s Pacific Project supported by the Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas. Footage sourced from Dan McGarry, Reuters, Lisi Naziah Tora Ali-Krishna & Nuku’alofa 88.6FM

• ‘Its all gone’: Cyclone Harold cuts a deadly path through Vanuatu
• Close to 70 percent of Luganville destroyed

Fiji disaster authorities have lifted movement restrictions imposed yesterday during the height of Severe Tropical Cyclone Harold have been lifted and both Queens and Kings highways are open. However, Covid-19 restrictions remain.

Category 5 Harold is now heading for Tonga after leaving a trail of destruction in Vanuatu and Fiji.

Fiji’s National Disaster Management office said businesses were to adhere to the required health practices and maintain physical distancing practices.

READ MORE: FBC News disaster reports

Director NDMO Vasiti Soko said there were some selected businesses that would operate as normal while the curfew still stood from 8pm to 5am.

Soko said these businesses were to ensure that staff were regularly washing their hands with soap and water or using hand sanitisers.

Businesses affected by TC Harold are to ensure that necessary proactive measures are in place.

Kadavu damage reports
With reports of further damage starting to come in from Kadavu, smaller nearby islands and Southern Lau, Soko said NDMO was seeking assistance from the public who could contact family in these areas.

Fijians can pass on information to the Commissioner Eastern EOC on 7775485/3313400 or the NDMO on 915 to assist them in getting a picture of the situation on the ground.

People are to exercise caution while traveling on the road.

The NDMO is working closely with their first responders to assist people who are still sheltering in evacuation centres.

For those who live in flood-prone areas, take precautionary measures and use discretion while traveling.

Kelly Vacala is a multimedia reporter for the state broadcaster FBC News.

TVNZ Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver’s disaster report last night.

Fiji disaster authorities have put the whole of Viti Levu island on restricted movement due to TC Harold.

Director for National Disaster Management Vasiti Soko confirmed the step had been taken as a precautionary measure.

Soko said everyone except emergency services were to remain in their homes.

LISTEN: Fiji Prime Minister warns people to stay indoors

It is expected that police will monitor the movement of people and anyone found to be loitering will be arrested.

Soko had earlier confirmed that Fijians evacuating due to TC Harold would be assisted by the disciplined forces.

The cyclone was located about 115 km south of Nadi, or about 85 km west-northwest of Kadavu, at 11.00am today.

Close to its centre, the cyclone was estimated to have average winds up to 175 km/h with momentary gusts to 250 km/hr. The cyclone was currently moving east-southeast at about 36 km/hr.

A storm warning remained in force for the rest of Viti Llevu, Lomaiviti, Moala, Totoya, Vanuavatu and the rest of Southern Lau group.

A gale warning remained in force in Yasawa and the Mamanuca group, for the rest of the Lau group, Vanua Levu, Taveuni and nearby smaller islands.

A strong wind warning remained in force for the rest of Fiji.

The tropical cyclone is hitting Fiji while the country is in restrictions over the global Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. So far 15 infection cases have been reported and Suva was already in lockdown.

Maggie Boyle is senior multimedia journalist on FBC News.

• Stretched by coronavirus pandemic, Vanuatu faces cyclone, Mt Yasur ash

While the Vanuatu government is investing its resources in tackling the coronavirus pandemic threat, it is now stretching its resources to tackle other natural disasters posing threats to the lives of the people – Cyclone Harold still moving over the country after lashing Santo and constant ash fall from Mt Yasur on Tanna.

Torba and Sanma Provinces suffered flooding and damage from the cyclone.

A lot of people were evacuated as the cyclone brought strong winds, destructive storm surges and heavy rainfall that resulted in flooding.

READ MORE: Cyclone Harold: RNZ’s Jamie Tahana reports on trail of destruction

It made landfall in the south-western coast of Santo and caused damage to infrastructure that could be costly to recover.

Buildings were damaged, communication networks and electricity have been disrupted since yesterday.

The government lifted its Covid-19 physical distancing restriction to allow mass gathering of people in evacuation centers.

Cyclone Harold was upgraded to category 5 yesterday morning and is expected to gain strength as it continues on its forecasted path towards Fiji.

Store food, water advice
People are advised to store enough food and water and those in unsafe shelters and risky areas are advised to move out to safety.

Authorities in the affected provinces have provided evacuation centres to many families. At the Torba Provincial Headquarter in Sola, Vanualava, families have taken shelter in evacuation centres for several days now.

Director of the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO), Abraham Nasak, said: “This is a very challenging time having experience Covid-19 restrictions and Cyclone Harold impacts at the same time”.

Apart from COVID-19 and Cyclone Harold, NDMO is also coordinating response to the Teouma flooding and Tanna ash fall due to the increase in its activity recently.

Secretary-General (SG) of the TAFEA Provincial Government Council (TPGC) Joe Iautim stressed that the ash fall impacts on communities at the Whitesands area in southeast and a few in north Tanna was severe.

“People in these parts of the island are exposed to volcanic ash all year around and often go without food for several months. They rely on the market to buy crops to eat,” he said.

SG Iautim conveyed that a team from NDMO led by the Senior Provincial Liaison Officer of NDMO, Philip Meto, were in Tanna for the rapid assessment, following a request from communities and the TAFEA NDMO Office.

Ash assessment
He said assessment covered other areas that usually experience ash fall and volcanic gases following the wind direction.

NDMO’s Senior Provincial Liaison Officer, Meto, said rapid assessment had been completed awaiting decision from the National Disaster Committee (NDC).

NDMO Director Nasak has assured NDC will consider relief response to the affected families once the State of Emergency (SOE) put in place for Covid-19 ends on Thursday this week.

Director of the Public Health Department Len Tarivonda said the Health Cluster partners were ready to support NDMO response plan for Cyclone Harold.

Cyclone Harold was moving in a south-southeast direction towards central Vanuatu as of yesterday. It is expected to leave Vanuatu by mid-week.

The Pacific Media Centre republishes articles by arrangement with the Vanuatu Daily Post.

• Monster TC Harold wreaks havoc in Vanuatu

There has been no communication early today from the Vanuatu islands hardest hit by the powerful Tropical Cyclone Harold.

The category 5 storm made landfall on the Vanuatu island of Santo yesterday with destructive winds as high as 235km/h.

The cyclone passed directly over Santo and hundreds of people are sheltering in evacuation centres.

In Luganville, a town of 16,000 people, roofs were blown off houses, trees snapped, and the council building has been destroyed.

Overnight, Tropical Cyclone Harold showed no sign of weakening as it moved across Vanuatu.

One telecommunications provider, Vodafone, said there was a general network outage in Banks, Santo, Malekula and Pentecost.

In a special dispatch last night, RNZ Pacific’s Jamie Tahana reported that Cyclone Harold had made landfall on Santo, with winds gusting as high as 235km/h.

Gathering strength
Cyclone Harold – a category five, the highest possible – had sat just to the west of Vanuatu’s central islands for much of the past day, gathering significant strength in the past 12 hours.

Yesterday afternoon, just after 1pm, local time, the storm made landfall on Santo’s southwestern coast, and is forecast to continue on a track that takes it very close to Luganville, the country’s second-largest town with a population of more than 16,000 people.

Fred Jockley, a managing forecaster at the Vanuatu Meteorological Service, said this storm was the most serious since Cyclone Pam, which destroyed much of the country in 2015, killing few people, but setting livelihoods, infrastructure and the economy back years.

Jockley said Harold was displaying the signs no one wanted to see: it had effectively stalled, moving as slow as two knots, which allows it to suck up moisture from the warm ocean and gain ferocity; it was growing in size, and its force would likely envelop much of Santo and Malekula, Vanuatu’s two largest islands; and its current track had it skirting very close to Luganville, the country’s second-largest city with more than 16,000 people.

“It’s very slow now. It’s been very slow the past six hours, but now it’s beginning to pick up speed,” Jockley told RNZ Pacific. “It’s going to go through Santo and Malekula.”

“The winds range is covering the whole of Santo and part of northern Malekula.”

Hundreds seek shelter
Hundreds of people across Santo had already sought shelter in evacuation centres, and flooding has been reported in many areas. On Monday morning, authorities evacuated people from remote areas where rivers had burst their banks into villages. Communication has since been lost with areas outside Luganville.

The official number of people in evacuation centres is so far unknown.

“We’re expecting more rainfall and flooding to continue over Luganville and Malekula, even extending to Penama and Torba,” Jockley said.

Cyclone Harold comes at the worst possible time for Vanuatu. The country was under a state of emergency because of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the country’s borders sealed, and mass gatherings of more than a few people banned.

Authorities are cracking down to try and stop the spread of the coronavirus in Fiji, which already has 12 cases, reports TVNZ One News.

Police have arrested more than 240 people in the last two days for breaching curfew.

“This level of lawlessness is irresponsible, un-Fijian and not just plain stupid,” Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said.

“Stay at home, otherwise we will bring in the military and police to lock down all of Fiji. It’s that simple.”

READ MORE: TC Harold now a category 5 cyclone

Fiji’s crackdown comes as TVNZ Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver reports on a major storm – TC Harold – heading towards Vanuatu, and then Fiji, with fears it could turn into a category five.

Barbara Dreaver’s video report.

Fiji has a mounting problem with coronavirus spread.

One of its positive cases came in from overseas and did not quarantine.

“This individual proceeded to ignore it by hopping from Nadi to Suva to Labasa in the span of a week, potentially spreading Covid-19 by land, air and sea just over a few days,” Bainimarama said.

One person who did self-isolate is a 20-year-old who appears to have carried Covid-19 from Auckland on March 22.

Procedures in place
New Zealand’s Director-General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, said there were procedures in place for when that happened.

“Whenever there is a situation like this where someone has travelled from one country to another, there is a formal notification made to kick off any contact tracing,” he said.

The number of Pasifika cases in New Zealand have nearly tripled in a week, now up to 33.

“I expect that we will see the Māori and Pacific portions start to grow as we see more close contacts confirmed or community transmission,” Dr Bloomfield said.

That is one reason Tonga extended its lockdown yesterday, with police checkpoints in evidence.

“It makes us have lots of eyes everywhere,” says acting deputy police commissioner Atunaisa Taumoepeau.

Health authorities are tracking down more than 400 passengers who flew in from New Zealand and Fiji before the borders were closed.

Tonga has limited safety gear and medical equipment, no capacity to test for Covid-19 and small numbers of medical staff.

The pressure is on to do the almost impossible and stop Covid-19 from spreading.

Barbara Dreaver’s TVNZ reports are republished with permission.