A strong typhoon slammed into the eastern Philippines on Thursday after authorities evacuated tens of thousands of people while trying to avoid the virus risks of overcrowding emergency shelters.

The first typhoon to hit the country this year rapidly gained force as it blew from the Pacific then barged ashore in San Policarpio town in Eastern Samar province around noon, weather agency administrator Vicente Malano said.

The typhoon came as the Philippines is trying to fight COVID-19 outbreaks largely by locking Filipinos in their homes and prohibiting gatherings that can set off infections. More than 11,600 infections, including 772 deaths, have been reported in the country.

Typhoon Vongfong, which was packing maximum sustained winds of 150 km/h and gusts of up to 185 km/h, was forecast to blow northwestward and barrel across densely populated eastern provinces and cities before exiting in the north Sunday.

Overcrowding in emergency shelters is a common scene in the archipelago, which is hit by about 20 typhoons and storms annually and regularly experiences volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

Many officials faced a difficult dilemma on how to shield villagers from the double threats. Video showed fierce rain and wind swaying coconut trees, rattling tin roofs and obscuring visibility in Eastern Samar, where some towns lost power.

"This is very complicated," Benjamin Ver, mayor of a town in the typhoon's path, told The Associated Press by telephone.

Far-flung Jipapad is prone to landslides and flooding. The town in Eastern Samar province is surrounded by mountains and flanked by two rivers that often swell in storms. The only evacuation centres for its 8,000 villagers are a gymnasium and the town hall, where residents could be sheltered from the typhoon.

Ver, who also is the town's only doctor, said he has secured enough face masks to protect his villagers from the virus in the town hall when the typhoon hits.

Observing physical distancing "is almost impossible" if all the villagers are cramped in the town hall, but Ver said he would see what else can be done.

Jipapad and the entire Eastern Samar, a province of half a million people, fortunately remain free of coronavirus infections, unlike neighbouring regions, provincial Gov. Ben Evardone said. All emergency shelters have been turned into quarantine facilities with medical equipment in case of outbreaks, but may have to be rearranged back into evacuation centres if large numbers of people need shelter, Evardone told AP.

The impoverished eastern region initially hit by Vongfong was devastated in 2013 by Typhoon Haiyan, which left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, flattened entire villages, swept ships inland and displaced more than five million people.