Flights From Australia, New Zealand and fortnightly flights from Fiji to Samoa will resume in June. Samoa will open its national borders to everyone on August 1 2022.
From this Sunday, 22nd May, all booking reservations and other airline arrangements for flights coming into and out of Samoa will be handed back to airline companies and travel agents.
Prime Minister of Samoa Fiame Naomi Mataafa released a special statement this evening, outlining the country’s next steps for COVID-19 Alert Levels.
The statement also notes that the services for registration that were done through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade will revert to the airlines offices using both online and on-site services. The travelling public is advised to now do bookings online with the relevant airline companies.
New quarantine requirements for travelling passengers were implemented last week which require all passengers to self-isolate at home for seven days. A breach of the self isolation requirements will incur a SAT$2000.00 fine.
Samoa’s Cabinet approved the country remaining at Alert Level 2 for another two weeks as of Tuesday midnight May 17 to midnight Tuesday 31st May 2022.
The announcement comes as the Ministry of Health confirmed from its latest report from the 10th to the 12th of May the country identified 358 new community cases, bringing the total number to 11,671 including repatriated passengers. Six people are currently isolating at Motootua hospital. None are in ICU. The country’s death toll stands at 24.
New changes introduced under the State of Emergency Orders also include:
- Removal of curfew hours
- Resumption of Colleges , Post-Secondary Education Training on the 18th May, Primary schools 30th May, Pre-schools July 4th
All colleges including government, private and mission run will resume Wednesday 18th May.
Prime Minister Fiame says, “in reassessing our preparations for the reopening of our borders to international travellers as initially announced, important consideration was given to our current vaccination rates, sector planning for the reopening of our borders, especially private and business sector, as well as the experiences of other neighbouring countries.”