Samoa's Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa says the government may cancel scheduled repatriation flights from Australia after the arrivial of 10 positive cases amongst 73 passengers from Brisbane on Wednesday afternoon.
She said a scheduled repatriation flight from New Zealand on Saturday has already been postponed.
Fiame also confirmed nine passengers who had "close contacts" with the affected passengers are now in managed isolation at the medical facility near the Faleolo International Airport.
The Prime Minister urged her fellow parliamentarians to take the lead in preventive measures to stop the spread of coronavirus in the country.
Hon. Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, Prime Minister of Samoa Photo: Supplied / SPREP
Fiame said they can start by wearing face masks when in public places, washing hands and keeping a safe distance.
The chairman of the National Emergency Operations Center, Agafili Shem Leo, says frontline workers at the special isolation facilities at the main hospital have started "camping" for the duration of the 21 day isolation period.
PNG tightens rules to try and stall Omicron
Public gatherings of 100 or more people have been banned in Papua New Guinea until 1 March.
This comes after the detection of the first Omicron case in PNG.
The controller of the National Pandemic Response David Manning said they are attempting to control the rate of infections before the country goes into its election period, due in May.
He has given the example of India where the country recorded 400,000 Covid deaths during its election period last year.
The first case of Omicron in PNG is a 45-year-old expatriate man, who traveled from South Africa.
He was diagnosed in Goroka on 26 December 2021.
Manning said all requests for events of more than 100 persons will not be approved until 28 February while prior approvals that have been given are now revoked.
Public gatherings of 100 or more people have been banned in Papua New Guinea until 1 March.