More than 140,000 people took refuge Friday in emergency shelters in the Philippines because of Typhoon Vongfong, which further complicates the fight against the coronavirus. Heavy precipitation has hit the center of the archipelago since the storm arrived on Thursday, which passed through areas populated by hundreds of thousands of people.
Typhoon struck as millions of Filipinos are believed to be homebound due to the coronavirus. But more than 140,000 people had to seek shelter elsewhere than at home because of the risk posed by the storm, authorities said. "You have to wear masks and observe the rules of distancing at all times , " Carlito Abriz of the Philippine police told AFP. "It's difficult to enforce because people are stressed."
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Authorities said the emergency shelters would only operate at 50% of their capacity, that they would provide masks for those without them, and that they would try not to separate the families. However, a number of places normally intended to serve as evacuation centers have been converted into quarantine centers.
Fortunately, the center of the archipelago where the storm hit is not the area most affected by Covid-19, which infected more than 11,800 people and left 790 dead in the Philippines. The country is hit each year by an average of twenty typhoons which make victims and cause considerable damage, helping to keep millions of people in poverty. The deadliest cyclone ever recorded in the country was Super Typhoon Haiyan, which killed more than 7,300 people in 2013.
