Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Governor Lemanu Peleti Mauga’s address to the joint session opening the 4th Regular Session of the 37th Legislature outlined the collective efforts the territory made dealing with the pandemic since American Samoa recorded its first community case.

He said since the first community spread recorded in February of this year, federal and private partners collectively joined efforts with the COVID-19 Task Force for the local response.

And it was a success.

 “We have been successful in combating the deadly effects of COVID-19 by implementing policies and protocols of mass vaccination, and test-to-treat campaigns through medical therapeutics.

 “To date, we have administered over 111,700 doses of vaccinations to our eligible community population.

 “A total of 84.8% of our population are fully vaccinated, with 89% completed at least one dose. About 66.8% of our eligible population have completed their first Booster Shot.

 “Our health professionals and the medical community continue to promote active engagement from the general public through its outreach programs to encourage our people to complete their full vaccinations and booster shots at the Leone, Tafuna, or Amouli Health Clinics.” 

The Manu’a islands encountered its first transmission of community spread in late April and Governor Lemanu said they experienced a rapid decline of positive cases following Public Health’s mitigation action plan with support by FEMA Partners.

 “The Department of Health’s EpiNet Team and LBJ Tropical Medical Hospital continue to work closely on monitoring the trend of transmission through the Epi Curve, providing recommendations to strengthen our policies and protocols for the health and safety of our general public, as we further assess relaxing local and travel restrictions.”

Adding that for more than two years, the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) remains activated to support public health professionals and first responders since the repatriation of more than 5,400 returning residents since February last year.

 “Our FEMA partners who were deployed in March of this year provided human capital and technical assistance with the infusion of doctors, nurses, paramedics, and logistics personnel to assist with Mass Vaccination and Test-to-Treat campaigns.

 “These additional resources have strengthened our mitigating efforts to expand our vaccination coverage and support the administration of medical therapeutics to alleviate the harmful effects of COVID-19. Any loss of life is felt profoundly in our small island community.”

The governor also made reference to those who passed away due to complications arising from COVID-19.

 “We mourn with the families and grieve the loss of over 32 family members in our community following the Omicron surge.”

According to Lemanu the territory is slowly adapting to living with COVID-19.

 “American Samoa is beginning to see the return of community sports, fundraising activities, summer programs, and public gatherings.

 “Although these activities support our commerce, travel and civic engagement, the Task Force and I continue to implore the community to adhere to public advisories from Public Health and the medical community with masking mandates and social distancing.

 “We have made significant strides in public health administration and emergency first response since the Measles Outbreak in December 2019.”

The government leader acknowledged the people for their patience and endless support with conforming to various public health advisories.

 “Our response will help us transition to live safely with COVID-19.

 “Continuity of Government Operations based on the recommendation of our public health professionals, “Code Red” was instituted across the island to help minimize the community spread of the COVID-19 virus.

 “As a result, schools and businesses were closed in order for the government to implement a phased plan of monitoring and testing. The expectation was to stay prepared for a possible surge. However, our government operations remained open to essential in-person services and provided virtual options to ensure the delivery of essential services to the public.”

Adding that the arrival of American Samoa’s federal partners, under the direction of the Lt. Governor Talauega Eleasalo Ale as the Governor’s Authorized Representative (GAR) and the COVID-19 Task Force supplied much needed manpower and technical assistance at the LBJ hospital, DOH and Samoan Affairs.

This included care package deliveries, ramping up vaccination efforts, test-to-treat sites, drive-thru vaccination, and pop-up sites. The overall goal was to support, monitor, and treat infected residents effectively. The information collected from these sites provided essential data on the areas that needed the most concentration.

He said as schools initiated in-person learning, DOE continued to provide meals to village distribution sites for students who were not scheduled for in-person learning.

The Department of Human Social Services provided essential services for children, families, and elders through the various sponsored programs such as the Electronic Women and Infant Benefit Cards (eWIC) which were replenished after DHSS completed the required certification of clients for the following month’s allocation.

DHSS averted a shortage of infant powder and baby formula, by airlifting free relief shipments for over 900 infants into the territory.

Furthermore, the DHSS carried out the home delivery of food coupons and provided support for daycare centers despite the strict safety measures.

There was also the Cash Assistance Program for both workers and businesses that  was administered and distributed to eligible clients from the Department of Human Resources (DHR) and Department of Commerce (DOC).

Cash Assistance for non-profit organizations was managed by the Criminal Justice Planning Agency (CJPA). 

 “Tax filing assistance was again provided for our people and the suspend date extended to allow time to file.

 “Despite the limited closure of businesses and schools that were ultimately opened, the administration issued over 15 batches of tax returns worth over $25.24M including $5.4M in local tax refunds, and $19.79M in Child Tax Credit.”

The Governor also stated that, “I am pleased to announce successful negotiations with our administration and the United States Treasury I.R.S. for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) initiative for eligible low-income residents.

“Final terms to ensure all eligible American Samoa residents are being reviewed.

“Once agreed, legislation will be proposed to this esteemed body of legislators to approve and pass the bill facilitating the much-needed support for our people.”