Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Fully COVID-19 vaccinated travelers from American Samoa will no longer be required to be quarantined upon arrival in Apia, under a new agreement set by authorities in Samoa, according to ASG Health Department (DOH) officials during a news conference yesterday where several issues were covered and updated.

Health director Motusa Tuileama Nua expressed appreciation to the Samoa government for allowing travelers from Pago Pago to Samoa that had been suspended for several weeks, with only flights coming in from Samoa with passengers.

During the news conference, which was live-streamed on the KVZK-TV Facebook page, DoH Epidemiologist, Dr. Aifili John Tufa spoke about the COVID-19 tests conducted by DoH and reminded local residents that if they plan to travel to Samoa or Hawai’i, all travelers are required to be tested if they are not fully vaccinated.

Dr. Tufa then shared good news, that all fully vaccinated travelers to Apia will no longer be required to undergo quarantine upon arrival in Samoa. He also revealed that inter-Samoa flights are scheduled on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Of note: However, all incoming travelers from Samoa are required to quarantine for 24-hours before being released into the community.

For travelers planning to head to Hawai’i, Dr. Tufa says these individuals need to get tested before departure if not fully vaccinated. And that the fully vaccinated traveler will not be required to quarantine upon arrival in Honolulu.

DoH’s Dr. Fiona Trail shared updates on the 262 passengers who arrived on the Nov. 1st flight from Honolulu who are currently quarantined at three sites: Tradewinds Hotel, Fatu O Aiga, and Sadie’s by the Sea hotel.

The first test for the quarantined travelers was carried out yesterday for passengers at Sadie’s by the Sea and Fatu-o-Aiga while today is set for those at Tradewinds Hotel, which houses the largest number of travelers.

Samoa News notes that DoH usually calls a news conference to make an announcement if there is a positive case — as the department has done in the previous flights.

Dr. Trail reminded the public that protocol is a 10-day quarantine for travelers from Honolulu but if there is one or more positive case(s), then the quarantine period for the travelers is 14-days.

For travelers on the Oct. 14th flight from Honolulu, Dr. Trail said the one “true positive” case was released from isolation on Monday this week while the rest of the travelers — quarantined at the usual three sites — were released last week Friday.

Samoa News will report next week on other issues covered in the news conference.