The small Pacific island nation of Vanuatu was recently hit by a category 5 storm, but the country has refused foreign aid workers to prevent them from spreading the coronavirus, which has yet to reach the country.

Vanuatu, which is comprised of about 80 different islands across 800 miles in the South Pacific Ocean, has about 300,000 residents, more than half of whom were affected by the recent Cyclone Harold, with the United Nations estimating that as many as 80 or 90% of people in some places lost their homes. 

Although the country’s government closed the borders, shut down its airports, and banned travel between its islands last month in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus, they have lifted some of these restrictions since the storm, but continue to refuse foreign aid workers from traveling to the islands.

“There’s quite a small group of people that are expected to deal with the aftermath of the cyclone as well as prepare for COVID-19 work,” Dr. Colin Tukuitonga, Pacific Community Director-General and associate dean (Pacific) in the University of Auckland Medical School, told TIME magazine. “They have a hell of a job on their hands.”

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