Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Lt. Gov. Talauega Eleasalo Ale says that there are “no new federal programs” at this point to provide financial assistance to employees laid off or experiencing reduced working hours under restrictions due to the Code Red threat level, as more local transmission of the COVID-19 virus spread on Tutuila.

Talauega, who is also the chair of the COVID-19 Task Force gave the response during a Zoom news conference last Thursday morning where he encouraged all residents qualified for a booster dose to get the shot.

Health officials also shared during the news conference a summary of information on the next Hawaiian Airlines flight from Honolulu on Thursday this week.

BUSINESSES

Under Code Red only “essential businesses” are open, with restricted hours of operation from 5a.m. to 4p.m. and restaurants are only allowed take out, while dine-in is prohibited.

The partial lock down has also affected StarKist Samoa production, which has been forced to shutdown operations for more than a week now. The U.S-based StarKist corporate office didn’t immediately respond to a Samoa News’ request for comments after questions were emailed late last week pertaining to their shutdown.

With many workers impacted due to Code Red restrictions, there have been questions in the community as to whether any financial assistance is forthcoming to cushion the financial-blow to families, whose workers are laid off.

When asked during last Thursday morning’s news conference, Talauega responded, “At this point, there is no new federal program available to provide new assistance to any employees laid off. But we will continue to explore those avenues.”

A team from the U.S Federal Emergency Management Agency arrived last Friday and Talauega noted that “we are in constant discussion about those types of things to assist laid off employees” with FEMA.

And at the time of the news conference, “we are… at this moment in discussion with StarKist to restart their operation. Those discussions are not completed yet, but we would like to reach some type of agreement so that many of our community who work at StarKist can go back to work safely and earn a living for their families.”

“Same thing with other businesses. We will slowly provide opportunities for them to ramp up their operations and bring their employees [back] to work,” he pointed out.

BOOSTER DOSES

The news media also asked, if “booster” doses for COVID-19 will be made “mandatory” for ASG employees, to which Talauega responded, “at this point it is not, but it’s highly encouraged” although there is a recommendation on the issue but no final decision has been made yet.

He also encouraged and urged all those in the community who are fully vaccinated and qualify, to get the booster shot.

All Executive Branch employees are mandated by the governor to be fully vaccinated as of Jan. 14, 2022 although there are provisions for exemptions. 

Responding to another media question, Talauega said the goal of the task force is to try to control the spread of the virus in the community “and try to implement ways for us to learn to operate our lives with COVID in American Samoa. That means doing things such as masking, and social distancing and also to get vaccinated and tested periodically.”

He noted that there is still quite a lot of traffic on the road, with people going to stores.

He pointed out that the “vision of the task force [is] to slowly move us away from Code Red and get to a phase where we can operate our lives with some consistency, instead of living week-by-week, wondering whether there’s going to be another extension of Code Red.”

With the continued community spread of the virus there are still residents questioning whether the government will impose a full lock-down, such as the action taken by neighboring Samoa in January this year.

When asked again about a full lock down, Talauega responded, “Like I said before the decision... depends on what we see on the ground and the recommendation of our medical community,” which includes the assistance of federal partners.

He said “FEMA partners have been in close contact with us” and they are advising the local medical team.

He added, the idea of a “complete shut down, is something that is ‘not off the table’, but it’s not — in my mind — the first response at this point,” as the task force continues to monitor the number of confirmed cases as well as any hospitalizations.

Talauega also announced the start last Thursday morning of “mass food delivery” to families who tested positive and are in home isolation. He said the food delivered is expected to last 14-days.

The delivery is conducted by the local Education Department and Office of Samoan Affairs and coordinated by the Emergency Operations Center.

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES FLIGHT

Health Department’s Dr. Fiona Trail said that passengers on the Mar.10 flight from Honolulu will be quarantined at three sites, Fatuoaiga, Sadie’s by the Sea hotel and the new Airport Quarantine Facility.

“They will be in quarantine for 72-hours, where they will be retested on day three. Once they are found negative, they will be released to home quarantine,” she explained.

Travelers who test positive, “if there are any, we will assess them to see if they are symptomatic or not, if they need treatment or not. If they do, they will get the required treatment, and referred to home in home-isolation,” she said.

(The Tradewinds is currently being used for quarantine and then as home base by the passengers of the federal flight that arrived with supplies & personnel. Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata was on this flight and is quarantining with her fellow passengers.