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National Institutes of Health / AP
Samoa has a second suspected Covid-19 case (file photo).
Samoa has reported another suspected Covid-19 case, a 70-year-old man who had traveled from Auckland.
Health Director General Leausa Take Naseri said the man was on the same repatriation flight as the island nation’s first suspected case, the Samoa Observer reported.
Samoa’s first suspected case, a sailor, has tested negative and positive for the virus, and more test results are pending.
The repatriation flight the men were traveling on flew from Auckland to Apia on 13 November.
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Leausa said an additional seven days would be added to the 14-day quarantine requirement for the 274 passengers on the Auckland to Apia flight.
Leausa said the most recent case, and his wife, who tested negative, would be isolated at the Moto’otua Hospital in Apia.
He said the 70-year-old father who arrived in Apia via Melbourne, Australia, tested negative for the virus upon arrival.
However, a follow-up test confirmed that it tested positive, the Samoa Observer reported
Samoa’s first suspected case was part of a group of 27 Samoan sailors who had been stationed in various parts of Europe and arrived with 274 other passengers on the November 13 repatriation flight.
His initial test upon arrival at Faleolo International Airport came back negative.
A second test came back positive, marking the first suspected case of the virus in Samoa.
But a third test came back negative. All three tests were completed with a nasal swab.
TVNZ
A sailor who arrived in Apia on a repatriation flight from New Zealand tests positive for the coronavirus.
Leausa has previously said that the sailor had been isolated in a special ward of the national hospital in Moto’otua, along with his roommate.
Repatriation flights for Samoan residents returning outside of Auckland are operated by Air New Zealand on behalf of the Government of Samoa.
Samoa Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi previously said that passengers on repatriation flights had to present proof of a negative Covid-19 test before they could board the plane.
