kava bar

The national disaster management office is asking people to take their own bottles where they will be filled.

The public is no longer allowed to congregate or sit in kava bars, and they must close by 7:30 pm.

Meanwhile, restaurants in the capital, Port Vila, will no longer be allowed to have dine-in customers.

Takeaway food will still be available.

The drink - an earthy-tasting ground root which numbs muscles and has been used to treat anxiety and stress - has been used widely across the Pacific and among its diaspora for centuries.

But the West, commercial traction has been held back by a lack of education around Pacific culture and limited research into its effects, experts say. Although legal in New Zealand, kava imports been restricted in many Western jurisdictions, including parts of Australia.