Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Two travelers onboard Hawaiian Airlines flight from Honolulu last Thursday night tested COVID-19 positive and were placed in isolation, while two crew members on the MV Lady Naomi voyage last Wednesday also tested positive and were isolated on board the Samoa government owned vessel, says Health Department Clinical Service director, Dr. Elizabeth Lauvao, responding to media inquiries last Friday.

Dr. Lauvao explained that there were 201 passengers on the Hawaiian Airlines flight and 199 tested negative while two passengers were positive. The positive cases were transferred to the DoH supervised isolation, in accordance with local protocol.

The MV Lady Naomi, which usually sails on Thursdays, arrived last Wednesday, with 33 travelers, who all tested negative. Dr. Lauvao said 15 of the passengers were delegates from Apia for the 2Samoa Talks.

She also said that the vessel had a 19-member crew of which 17 tested negative and two tested positive. The two positive crew members were isolated on the ferry and monitored by the DoH seaport staff.

The MV Lady Naomi returned last Saturday to pick up the Samoa government delegates to the 2Samoa Talks returning to Apia and other passengers traveling to Samoa. Information on the incoming sail wasn’t immediately available yesterday.

The 2Samoa Talks, now officially renamed Atoa O Samoa Executive Meeting, was hosted by American Samoa last Wednesday and Thursday, with Samoa to host the biannually meeting in September this year.

Samoa Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa and senior government officials traveled by air and they returned to Apia over the weekend. (See separate story in today’s edition on outcome of the Samoa Talks).