Coronavirus Covid-19: Samoa reports another case, a traveler from New Zealand

Samoa has reported a second positive case of Covid-19: a traveler from New Zealand.

The new case is a man in his 70s who arrived here on November 12, before flying to Samoa the next day.

The information was released by Samoa’s chief health officer, Leausa Toleafoa Dr. Take Naseri, in a press conference that is broadcast online.

Naseri said the man was now isolated, as was his wife, who tested negative.

The male patient had underlying health problems for which he was taking regular medication.

Other than, Naseri said, the man did not show any visible symptoms of the virus.

The revelations of a new case come after a sailor who took a repatriation flight from Auckland on November 13 tested positive for Covid-19 in the island nation last week.

Although another test on the sailor came back negative, Samoa was still treating him as a positive case.

Speaking in Samoan, Naseri said they were still working to find out exactly where the latest case may have been infected.

When asked if there was a possibility that the man in his 70s could have contracted Covid-19 in the first positive case, Naseri acknowledged that it did not seem likely.

Two positive cases were on the same Air NZ flight

“They were 10 rows apart.”

The sailor was sitting in row 59, Naseri said, while the older man was in row 49.

“We don’t know if [he picked it up] from Melbourne or New Zealand, “Naseri said.

“This case is not as easy as him [other health conditions]. “

The older man and his wife are now in isolation at the country’s main hospital, the Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital in Moto’otua, near Apia.

The sailor and a close contact remain isolated in the same hospital.

Naseri said the two positive cases and their close contacts would remain in isolation at the hospital.

However, health authorities were prepared to make changes if more cases were identified, he said.

Up to 274 passengers were on board the Air New Zealand flight that flew from Auckland to Samoa on Friday, November 13.

Two other repatriation flights from Auckland are due to fly to Samoa next Friday and the following week, Friday December 11.

There have been no new changes to those flights at this stage.