By Staff Writer
Families of stranded passengers flying in today from New Zealand are not allowed into Faleolo International Airport for health security reasons when the flight arrives.
The same restrictions also apply to sites where the new arrivals will be quarantined.
The AirNZ repatriation flight is due to land at Faleolo with 151 passengers this afternoon, Friday 29 May 2020.
The Chairman of the Advisory Committee, Ulu Bismarck Crawley, gave public advise last night under the Orders of the State of Emergency to ensure that necessary precautionary measures are taken for health security reasons.
The restrictions at the airport is from Friday 29 May 2020; 12am-11.59pm and at all quarantine sites for the duration of the isolation period from Friday 29 May – Friday 12 June 2020.
“The ‘Quarantine’ process is in place to help protect the public by preventing exposure to people who have or may have been exposed to Coronavirus infected areas,” Ulu announced in a public notice circulated last night.
The local coronavirus watchdog task force is taking very careful actions against the return of citizens and residents stranded in New Zealand under strict health conditions.
Today’s flight is the second in a series scheduled to fly in more than a thousand travelers who are to be repatriated from New Zealand.
The first arrived last week with only 6 people on board, after many of the travelers booked on the flight reportedly failed to meet strict health conditions.
Local reactions to the return of the stranded travelers remain fearful despite reports that there have been no new cases of the coronavirus in New Zealand in the past few days.
“New Zealand has reported no new cases in the last four days and many of the cases have recovered, so that is good for our confidence level here,” Ulu noted.
“The longer New Zealand remains free of any new cases the more our confidence levels grow but we’re not being complacent about it.
“We will continue to keep close watch on the new arrivals while under 14 days quarantine and schedule all repatriation flights after all have been cleared.”
Ulu also confirmed ongoing talks with AirNZ officials to ensure all travelers have their medical documents in order before they are allowed to board the flight to Samoa.