Two fishermen from Bougainville caught fishing in Soilomon Islands waters have been allowed to return home after three days in quarantine.
Solomon Islands government officials (Wearing high visibility vests) handing over the two fishermen to their Bougainville counterparts. Photo: Solomon Islands Government
The pair were caught near Nunungari Island on Wednesday last week by a Solomons border patrol.
They were then taken into quarantine at Kulitanai where a joint covid-19 border operation is based.
Having displayed no symptoms of the coronavirus the pair were handed over to Bougainville authorities on Saturday.
A statement from the Solomon Islands government said, "Keeping the men at Kulitanai for a longer period would incur unnecessary cost to the taxpayers of Solomon Islands while at the same time sending them home would keep them out from further interaction with the local communities."
Papua New Guinea has over 450 coronavirus cases while Solomon Islands has none.
The shared maritime border between the two countries has been closed since the start of the pandemic in March.