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The first typhoon of the 2020 Western Pacific season rapidly strengthened before slamming into the eastern Philippines Thursday, forcing an evacuation of thousands that was complicated by efforts to avoid spreading coronavirus at shelters.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) said that Typhoon Vongfong was 289 miles east-southeast of Manila Wednesday and was tracking westward.

The storm has maximum sustained wind speeds of 115 mph with gusts near 143 mph, the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

FIRST TYPHOON OF 2020 FORMS IN WESTERN PACIFIC, TAKES AIM AT EASTERN PHILIPPINES

The first typhoon to hit the country this year rapidly strengthened over a 24-hour period, going from…