Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The two faipule from Manu’a District #1, Vice Speaker Fetu Fetui Jr and Rep. Tiaoalii Fau Sai have called out to the Task Force and ASG for clarification about travel to Manu’a.

Rep. Tiaoalii said during the House Session yesterday morning that people from his District are confused and want to know why they have to go through the TalofaPass to register for a flight to Manu’a.

According to Rep. Tiaoalii, his people are also concerned with flights and vessels coming to the island with people from Tutuila and there’s no quarantine requirements or testing available on the Manu’a islands.

He stated that as of last Saturday, Mar. 12, 527 confirmed cases were recorded from 42 villages on Tutuila.  Aunu’u and Manu’a do not have any COVID-19 cases. There are also some villages in Tutuila that do not have any COVID cases.

Fetu echoed Tiaoalii’s concern and asked the House Health chairman to look at his district’s concern and take it very seriously.

Fetu believes that there should be testing sites in Manu’a because government officials are coming to Manu’a for government purposes and there must be a plan for quarantine and testing.

A concerned resident of Manu’a posted on social media this month asking for the reason why Manu’a people have to go through the TalofaPass to register for a flight to Manu’a.

The concerned resident said the sole purpose of TalofaPass is to screen passengers entering into American Samoa and creating a registry clearance for people traveling from the mainland.

The concerned resident continued to state that the TalofaPass was not created to infringe on the privacy and free will of the people of Manu’atele to travel inter-island in American Samoa.

Speaker of the House, Savali Talavou Ale told Manu’a faipule that the House Health committee would handle the concerns from the Manu’a people.

Previously, to ensure that the Manu’a people continue receiving their needed 1st dose & 2nd dose COVID-19 shots and booster shots, the Dept. of Health (DoH) sent over a team of healthcare workers and supplies to assist the DoH Manu’a Team, according to posts on the Manu'atele Community Facebook page.

A request by an Ofu island resident, William Thompson, asked the local government to find a way to make sure that “we, the residents of all 3 islands of Manu’a — Ofu, Olosega and Ta’u — are provided the option to get fully vaccinated and boosted…”

Thompson wrote his email over the weekend to the CDC physicians that are currently on island and shared it with local media.

He noted that the vaccine that arrived on Ta’u Island last week had not traveled over to the islands of Ofu and Olosega. And residents of Manu’a have not been tested for COVID.

He pleaded, “Please help ALL of American Samoa. I hope that it will not be too late.”