Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA  — The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has changed the COVID-19 travel risk notice for America Samoa compared to the federal agency’s notice issued Aug. 6th in which CDC says that “COVID-19 risk in American Samoa is high”.

As of yesterday, the CDC listed American Samoa and 20 other countries with a new travel health notice, saying that, “COVID-19 Risk is Very Low”. No explanation was given as to why the change for American Samoa, which is the only US jurisdiction — state or territory — without a confirmed case.

For neighboring Samoa, the CDC said COVID-19 risk for the independent state is “unknown” saying that no data is available. This is the same information on its Aug. 06th notice covering countries around the world.

CDC recommends that travelers avoid all nonessential travel to Samoa and 10 other countries — a majority of them in the Pacific. Samoa doesn’t have a virus case and as of early this week closed it’s borders after a spike in COVID-19 cases in New Zealand’s city of Auckland.