Mass evacuation complicated by virus

More than 150,000 people were riding out a weakening typhoon in emergency shelters in the Philippines yesterday after a mass evacuation that was complicated and slowed by the coronavirus. Typhoon Vongfong has weakened after slamming ashore into Eastern Samar province on Thursday and was blowing northwestward towards the populous main northern island of Luzon, government forecasters said. There were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage. The typhoon’s maximum sustained wind had weakened to 125 kilometres per hour with gusts of 165kmh but it remained dangerous, especially in coastal areas, forecasters said. In the northeastern Bicol region, more than 145,000 villagers have fled or were moved by disaster-response teams to dozens of emergency shelters, mostly school buildings, Office of Civil Defence director Claudio Yucot said. Thousands more were evacuated to safety in the outlying provinces of Samar, where the typhoon first blew over, officials said. Unlike before, rescuers and volunteers needed to wear face masks and protective suits before deployment and could not transport villagers to emergency shelters in large numbers as a safeguard against the Covid-19 disease, Yucot said. ‘‘Our ease of movement has been limited by Covid,’’ Yucot said by telephone from Albay province in the Bicol region, which has had dozens of coronavirus infections, including four deaths and remains under quarantine. ‘‘In the evacuation centres, there are more challenges.’’ In an evacuation room, which could shelter up to 40 families before, only four families could be accommodated now as a safeguard against infections, Yucot said.