More than 100 Samoan police officers and civilian staff have tested positive for Covid-19 forcing the Ministry of Police and Prisons to split into smaller numbers to avoid further spread of the virus.
TV1Samoa reports Deputy Commissioner Auapa'au Logoitino Filipo saying 80 of the cases are sworn police officers and the rest are unsworn officers and civilian ministry staff.
Photo: RNZ Pacific / Autagavaia Tipi Autagavaia
He said they have now split their numbers to four locations to minimise the spread.
All those infected are being treated in isolation at a special location until they recover and are released to return to duty.
Auapa'au said the situation is manageable and they are looking at contingency plans and re-evaluating the situation.
172 new covid cases
Samoa has recorded 172 new community transmission cases of covid-19.
The Ministry of Health has confirmed that 1,353 of the cases are active community cases.
Upolu has the majority of cases with 97 percent.
The ministry said the prevalence of covid infection remains significantly higher among those aged 15 to 35 with 756 cases.
Samoa remains in a nationwide alert level 3 lockdown and on Thursday launches another country wide mass vaccination campaign starting onUpolu as it pushes for complete coronavirus immunisation coverage.
The campaign will move on to Savaii on Friday.