Panic, lockdown and a rush to vaccinate in Tonga as first Covid case recorded

Pacific country has made it through nearly two years of the pandemic Covid-free, but a repatriation flight from New Zealand has led to the country's first case

Early on Monday morning, the normally quiet capital of the Pacific country of Tonga, Nuku'alofa city, was packed with cars.

There were long queues outside vaccination centres, as well as banks, Western Union outlets and shops as people rushed to prepare for the tiny nation's first proper lockdown.