Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Olosega island in Manu’a is no longer COVID-19 free, with its first positive cases recorded by the Health Department, which is also reporting the new Omicron sub-variants present in American Samoa from passengers who tested positive upon arrival from Honolulu recently, according to the DoH Situational Report for the week of July 4 to July 10, presented at Tuesday’s COVID-19 Task Force meeting.

The DoH sent lab specimens of positive cases to Hawaii for genomic sequencing to identify the COVID omicron variants and the DoH report states that the results were received on July 6. And it confirmed the new sub-variants of BA 4 and BA 5.1 — from travelers who arrived from Hawaii.

The sequencing results also showed the other sub-variants now present on island: BA 2.12.1; BA 2.3; BA 1.1.9; and BA 2.18, according to the DoH report, which shows an increase in the number of positive cases of COVID community spread.

The previous week recorded 317 new positives and for the week of July 4 to July 10, DoH reports new positives totaling 344 from the 4,074 individuals tested at DoH clinics and the LBJ Medical Center. There were no new COVID related deaths reported from LBJ and fatalities remain at 32.

The report also showed that COVID has finally reached Olosega island in the Manu’a island group recording its first 16-positive cases.

The new positive cases bring American Samoa’s total cumulative at 7,143 since the outbreak was first reported on Feb. 21 on Tutuila. For Manu’a, the cumulative count since the outbreak was first reported there, in April this year stands at 159 positives including 53 new cases reported for the week of July 4 to July 10.

DoH data shows Tafuna village has the highest over all number of cases in the territory since the outbreak, reaching a four-digit number, totaling 1,245 positives, followed by Nu’uuli with 743 cases.

Given the easing of local COVID-19 restrictions, DoH told the task force meeting that this has caused the “uptick” in positive cases and health care workers emphasize continued protective measures — such as masking and social distancing, especially indoors.

Lt. Gov. Talauega Eleasalo Alo, chair of the task force, supports more public service announcements on masking up and social distancing, due to the spike in positive cases including Manu’a, according to ASG officials who attended the meeting.

With the new sub-variants identified on island, the task force has increased its plea to the public to mask-up and social distance, as is strongly recommended by the territory’s medical community.

OTHER ISSUES

The DoH report also shows that 249 travelers on the July 7 flight from Honolulu were tested upon arrival at Pago Pago International Airport, and 9 passengers tested positive. And they were immediately sent to isolation at a DoH supervised facility.

As of July 8, DoH said there were 14 travelers in supervised isolation: two who are considered “close-contact” to travelers; 9 on the July 7 flight from Honolulu, and three passengers who tested positive on the July 6 flights from Apia.