Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The COVID-19 Task Force has recommended to Gov. Lemanu P. S Mauga that travel to American Samoa be completely re-opened to include cruise ships at the beginning of 2023, the task force said in a statement issued last week.

Since the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, the previous Lolo Administration imposed travel restrictions to the territory and it continued into the current Lemanu Administration — which began lifting restrictions just in the past weeks.

Pandemic restrictions also impacted the territory’s limited tourism industry including cruise ships calling into the Port of Pago Pago due to the suspended entry.

The task force said in the statement, following last week’s meeting, that the complete re-opening of American Samoa would allow relevant ASG departments, authorities, and private operators to prepare for the resumption of cruise ship tourism, which in the past brought thousands of tourists each year from around the country and globe.

As COVID-19 restrictions have largely been relaxed and returned to pre-COVID levels, the COVID- 19 Task Force “continues to communicate its needs and challenges with Federal partners regarding its plans for long-term recovery,” according to the statement.

It also says that an official announcement on the re-opening date and first cruise ship since COVID-19 to re-enter American Samoa’s ports is forthcoming.

The task force had previously announced that it had recommended to the governor for complete re-opening of American Samoa come Dec. 01, 2022 — which is also when the governor’s current COVID-19 Emergency Declaration expires.

The task force also reports that since the suspension of the pre-travel approvals and vaccination mandates were lifted on Nov. 15 for passengers entering the territory, there have been “no major issues” reported for incoming passengers and relevant ASG departments.

Recent data on incoming travelers from November 15- 22 show that over 800 travelers either submitted a traveler declaration online or were already previously registered on the TalofaPass websystem.

All incoming travelers are highly encouraged to complete their health surveys on the American Samoa Traveler Declarations portal (http://travelerdeclaration.as.gov) to expedite this requirement digitally.

However, manual paper forms will continue to be provided to passengers upon arrival in the territory.

Meanwhile, the Health Department’s latest COVID-19 Situational Report for the week of Nov. 14 to Nov. 20 shows that of the 44 individuals tested at DoH laboratory and LBJ Medical Center only person came back positive — which was at LBJ.

With the one new positive, American Samoa’s total cumulative count since the community outbreak of COVID was recorded on Feb. 21 now stands at 8,260.

Additionally, COVID-19 related deaths since the first one case was recorded in March this year, remains at 34.

Meanwhile, the DoH report shows the passenger count for incoming and outgoing Hawaiian Airlines flights for Nov. 17 and Nov. 21: with a total of 471 incoming passengers and 445 outgoing passengers. Hawaiian Airlines currently operates on Mondays and Thursdays.

Hawaiian Airlines has already announced adding a third-weekly flight on Wednesdays between Dec. 14, 2022 and Jan. 11, 2023 to accommodate higher holiday seasonal demand for travel between Honolulu and Pago Pago.