“Enough is enough,” Mauga declares to unruly quarantine travelers

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — At this Monday’s regular Task Force meeting, Secretary of Samoa Affairs, Mauga Tasi Asuega was particularly outspoken about travelers who damaged property and exhibited poor behavior inside the quarantine sites.

He said since quarantine operations have started, there have been similar cases reported but nothing has been done to punish these individuals.

“Enough is enough,” said Mauga. “My advice, if we say we will prosecute or fine them, then do it. Don’t wait anymore and it doesn’t matter whose kid it is or whose family they come from. Just do it!”

Mauga’s statements were prompted after anger from travelers quarantined at the Tradewinds Hotel boiled over last week when the quarantine period was extended.

In the weekly press release issued by the Task Force, Lt. Gov Talauega Eleasalo Ale had only praise for frontline workers who bore the brunt of that anger.

Talauega , who is also the COVID Task Force chair, said even the smartest minds in the world — and that includes the scientists at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — are still making changes to policies due to the always evolving coronavirus data.

“Sure we’re going to struggle and make mistakes like we did this last trip but the end result remains, ‘We don’t have community spread,” Talauega said.

The Lt Governor expressed thanks to the territory’s healthcare workers who had eight of their colleagues succumb to COVID-19 while caring for the Jan. 27 flight passengers in quarantine. The eight healthcare workers plus 35 travelers who tested positive are in isolation while the last passengers of the Jan. 27 flight were released on Sunday.

He also acknowledged the work of the departments of Homeland Security and the Public Safety whose employees provide security and assisted at the quarantine and isolation units. He said the front line workers and their leaders endured some very negative comments and unruly behavior not only from the travelers, but from members of the public.

Senator Faiivae Iuli Godinet and Mauga echoed similar remarks and thanked the frontline workers for their sacrifices and dedication.

PROPOSALS UNDER CONSIDERATION

Several proposals were presented to the Task Force for consideration and were deferred to the medical community for their input before review by the Task Force in its next meeting.

Some of the options presented for consideration were: no mandatory five-day stay in Hawaii before traveling to American Samoa; COVID-19 testing in Hawaii will no longer be free for local residents; and assessing a $200 quarantine fee per traveler.

Last week the Task Force approved removing one of the three test requirements for pre-travel, leaving only testing on the 5th day and 48 hours before the flight date. At present, travelers must be in Hawaii when they undergo their day 5 testing and bona fide American Samoa residents get tested at no charge, thanks to the assistance from the American Samoa Medicaid Program.

Talauega explained that when the five-day stay in Hawaii was approved as a requirement, it was done at a time when COVID-19 cases in Hawaii were way below cases in the US mainland. But as it stands, Hawaii cases are now just as many if not more than some states in the US.

He said travelers who are undergoing self-quarantine in the mainland are at risk of getting the virus if they’re being subjected to going to a busy mall to get tested. He said having travelers get tested from wherever they are in the US also removed complaints about the testing capability of Capture Diagnostics, one of the two companies contracted by American Samoa for testing in Honolulu.

This recommendation has been deferred to the medical community for their feedback.

Another recommendation is the requirement that travelers coming from Hawaii are to expect a quarantine period of at least 14 days but it could go up to 21 days based on test results while in quarantine.

As reported in Samoa News, an amendment to the latest Declaration was issued by Gov Lemanu Peleti Mauga on Feb. 11. It provides that the Health director is authorized to quarantine a person for up to 21 days without notice if that person was or may have been exposed to COVID-19.

Last week, the Department of Health proposed to assess a quarantine fee to help with depleting COVID-19 federal funds to cover lodging. At the Monday, Task Force meeting, Talauega proposed a flat fee of $200 per traveler but gave Task Force members the chance to propose and justify another fee amount.

FULLY VACCINATION RATE NOW AT 79.4%

As of Feb. 14, 2022, a total of 41,649 people eligible to get the COVID vaccine have received at least one dose. Of that number, 39,654 are fully vaccinated. For the entire population coverage, this translates to 83.8% have received one dose, with 79.8% now fully vaccinated.

Those who received their booster shots remain below 25%. As of Feb. 14, only 21.6% have gotten their boosters; the majority of them are in the 61 years old and older age group.

For school vaccination coverage, 88.8% of the 12,298 school children in both public and private schools have received their first doses and 82.9% are fully vaccinated.

FEB 17 HAWAIIAN AIRLINES FLIGHT

As of Monday, a total of 285 travelers has been approved on TALOFAPASS for the Feb. 17th flight from Hawaii. That number might change depending on the results of the 3rd swab tests that are being conducted on Feb. 15 and 16. Seven travelers are dialysis patients.

According to DOH, 64 travelers considered themselves as historical cases or those who contracted COVID-19, have recovered from it and are no longer infectious.

Talauega reminded all those who will be involved with the flight to be on alert at all times and process the travelers efficiently as possible – that is, get the travelers out of the plane and immediately put them into buses and then take them to their quarantine sites and into their rooms without any hiccups.

To health officials, he said retraining of frontline workers on basic infection control practices such as personal protective equipment (PPE), environmental cleaning and hand hygiene should be ongoing.

SAMOA FLIGHTS

Flights between the two Samoa continue to be suspended this week. Meanwhile DoH has presented to the Task Force several recommendations for their consideration.

These include travelers from Samoa applying on TALOFAPASS seven days before their departure date for entry and once here, they will be subjected to a five-day quarantine period.

Before flights in the inter-Samoa route were suspended last month, travelers from the independent state did not have to register on TALOFAPASS – unlike travelers from Hawaii and Fiji – in order to travel here. They only needed to show proof of being fully vaccinated and provide a negative COVID-19 test 72 hours before their flight.

Samoa travelers who are five years old and up must now show proof of being fully vaccinated per the latest Emergency Declaration issued earlier this month.

Another DoH recommendation is for Samoa flights to be suspended when there’s an ongoing quarantine operation for Hawaiian Airlines’ flights. DoH says this is because there are limited quarantine beds available, as well as limited staff to work the multiple sites — on top of working their regular duties.

There was no objection to the recommendations except for the quarantine requirement, which DoH was asked to discuss further with the medical team due to the lack of community spread in Samoa. This and other recommendations are expected to be discussed further at next week’s Task Force meeting.

(Source: COVID-19 Task Force press release)