The Niue government has linked the current Covid-19 outbreak to a possible breach of border requirements.
The Director General of Social Services and Health Gaylene Tasmania said her team has evidence of an exemption granted on the basis of a Fit to Fly certificate which is now in question.
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She said the documentation exempted the traveller from pre-departure testing.
This, in turn, set off a series of events that exempted the traveller from in-country testing under current protocols for historical or previously infected persons.
On Friday, August 26 an initial two cases of covid were detected in the community and following contact tracing a further three cases were detected by 6pm that same day.
Tasmania said five cases were classified as 'under investigation' while a health team worked under urgency to link the cases to the border.
"By the end of Friday night, we had identified three different households where members had tested positive. Two of these households included recent travellers," she said.
The Niue Government has announced that the country will remain at Code Yellow restrictions following the find.
There are currently 11 active cases in Niue.