By Staff Writer
All flights from American Samoa were off and stricter quarantine restrictions enforced days before community transmission was confirmed last week of the COVID 19 pandemic virus.
The neighbouring territory is currently in a CODE RED lockdown for a week as of last Wednesday for health security reasons.
The Ministry of Health early border control restrictions was sparked by growing fears of flights arriving into the territory that were no longer treated as for returning citizens only.
“We were concerned that these were turning into commercialised flights, so I think we were a bit ahead when closed off flights from Pago,” Director General of Health, Leausa Dr. Take Naseri told Newsline Samoa online.
The Director General is currently undertaking a long delayed medical checkup in New Zealand when contacted for a reaction to the community transmission in American Samoa.
“I think we were a bit ahead when we stopped the flights from Pago and then re-issue quarantine for all passengers from there for 14 days or maybe more depending on the cases.”
The American Samoa community cases were traced to a frontline quarantine worker who passed the pandemic virus off to family members.
Tests later confirmed 7 of the 8 members in the family had the virus and that some had attended a church service in Leone village.
The border health breach leak reportedly had its roots in a flight on January 27 from Honolulu to the territory with 35 passengers who tested positive.
Eight quarantine staff from the health department that worked at quarantine sites, also tested positive.
A similar flight that landed what turned into 26 positive cases from Brisbane Australia on Wednesday 19 January 2022 sent Apia and the rest of the country into a CODE RED lockdown for several days.
The total expanded to 32 when 6 of the frontline workers were infected by the virus and was the biggest number of confirmed virus carriers in the country at one time.
The PM Fiame Naomi Mataafa confirmed in a press conference during the week that the last person passenger left in quarantine from the group that tested positive has been released.
The 6 frontline workers are still held in isolation.
So far the security measures are able to effectively contain the pandemic within quarantine sites without any community transmission recorded to date.
The vaccination roll out for the 18 years and upwards age group continues with first dose completion rates at close to 98 per cent and about 90% for second doses.
Doses for the 12-17 age group are also continuing with close to 26, 000 or 92% completion rate so far.
The 5-11 year old age group is awaiting the arrival of doses.