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“Take heed American Samoa — COVID is still here!”

Dr. Elizabeth Lauvao
Positive COVID cases from Hawaii and Samoa now in quarantine
fili@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Three passengers onboard Hawaiian Airlines flight from Honolulu last week Thursday night and two travelers on the MV Lady Naomi from Samoa last Thursday morning, tested COVID-19 positive and were place in isolation, in accordance with local protocol.

The Dept. of Health (DoH) clinical services director Dr. Elizabeth Lauvao said that a total of 235 passengers were on last Thursday’s flight from Honolulu and 232 tested negative while three tested positive. And the positive cases were transferred to the DoH supervised Isolation facility at the airport hangar.

The next flight from Honolulu is scheduled for tonight and no information is available as to the number of incoming travelers with an update expected to be included in DoH’s presentation at tomorrow’s weekly COVID-19 Task Force meeting.

For the MV Lady Naomi from Apia, the Samoa government owned vessel brought in 60 travelers, who were tested upon arrival with 58 testing negative and two positives — who where also transferred to the airport hangar for supervised isolation.

The number of travelers on the weekly passenger/cargo ferry is limited to 60 on the outbound and 60 and the inbound.

Under current protocol, travelers who test positive are isolated at a DoH facility for 5 days and released to home isolation for another 5-days. Those who test negative are released to go home and only required to check in to ASG’s TALOFAPass websystem 5-days after arrival.

With incoming travelers testing positive and the community spread of COVID-19 remaining in American Samoa, DoH has reiterated masking up and social distancing while in public as well as getting fully vaccinated.

“Take heed American Samoa — COVID is still here!  Don’t let your guard down, do what you need to do to protect you and your loved ones from getting sick,” declared DoH in a weekend message.

For testing sites and other information contact DoH at 219.