By Staff Writer
High drama of the Nov. 13 repatriation flight ended quietly last Friday, three weeks after two of the 274 passengers were tested both negative and positive shortly after going into health isolation.
Both are still under quarantine to finish up the weekend with a few more days of careful monitoring at an isolated TTM Hospital ward, before they can go home on Monday.
The other 272 passengers on the flight went home last Friday after an additional week of quarantine isolation for a total of three weeks at selected accommodations.
The country held its breath when swab tests shortly after arrival for a 70 year old man and 23 year old seafarer turned positive at initial tests on arrival showed negative.
Follow up re-confirmation tests returned negative.
Local health officials rushed to send specimen swabs and blood samples for a run of the same tests in New Zealand for a second opinion.
The tests showed similar results and also verified that the suspects were infected while outside of Samoa.
The 70 year old man picked up the virus in Melbourne, Australia while the 23 year old seafarer was infected while in Italy.
Treatment before they made their way to Samoa weakened the viral infection for both that by the time they landed home the virus was dying out to risk any infection or spread of the pandemic.
To be on the safe side, an additional week of quarantine stay was added for all the passengers on the flight.
“The suspects were carefully monitored and given more tests and all have turned out consistently negative,” Director General of Health, Leausa Dr. Take Naseri, assured the local media in a press conference last Friday.
The test results also confirmed that the cases were ‘historical’ meaning the virus was picked up by the suspects in their respective locations outside Samoa.
Treatment was carried out and already effectively working by the time they arrived in Samoa.
“ The men have remained in good health with healthy appearance since they were placed under quarantine.”
A second seafarer held in quarantine with the 23 year old has also tested negative as well as the wife of the 70 year old man who is together with him in quarantine.
The three weeks quarantine stay is the longest imposed on any group of new arrivals of flights returning Samoan citizens stranded outside the country.
Frontline workers who attended the arrival of the Nov. 13 flight have also tested negative while under quarantine as well.
