Samoa, Kiribati Enforce Lockdown After Reopening Borders

JAKARTADAILY.ID - Samoa went into a 48-hour lockdown after 15 passengers on a flight from Brisbane, Australia have been tested positive for COVID-19, as per Associated Press on Sunday (January 24, 2022). The infected passengers were among 73 who aboard the flight arrived on Wednesday.

All the passengers were said to be fully vaccinated and had tested negative for COVID-19 before departure.

Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa of Samoa has placed the small Pacific nation into a short-term lockdown and revealed the possibility the government may cancel further flights from Australia on Saturday.

The same situation is also happening in nearby Kiribati where dozens of passengers on the flight from Fiji after the nation's borders reopened tested positive for the virus. ABC News reported that President Taneti Maamau placed stay-at-home orders on Saturday (January 23, 2022). The initial statement from the government said that the lockdown will last until Thursday this week.

Samoa, population 200,000, has reported 18 active cases so far. Similarly, its neighboring American Samoa also has 18 cases. These cases came along with travelers from Hawaii on Hawaiian Airlines flights from Honolulu with the latest group of seven who tested positive arrived January 6.

However, there is no lockdown in American Samoa. The flights between Honolulu and Pago Pago also reportedly continue, although only on a limited basis.

The governor of American Samoa, Lemanu Palepoi Sialega “Peleti” Mauga, followed suit by announcing the cancellation of flights between the territory and Samoa for one week. However, he also issued a statement offering solidarity to the Samoan citizens and support for its government.