Frontline officials in Samoa who serviced a ship carrying crew infected with covid-19 are now in isolation.
Fesco Askold Photo: Etienne Verberckmoes
Three crew members of the container ship Fesco Askold were confirmed to have tested positive for the coronavirus as it arrived in American Samoa's waters.
Before American Samoa's capital Pago Pago, the Cyprus-flagged vessel had sailed from Tahiti to Samoa.
In Samoa, Fesco docked at Apia's Matautu port for less than 24 hours.
According to the local Health Department, strict health controls were followed and no one from the vessel came ashore.
The department said that Samoa remained covid-19 free.
However as a precautionary measure, frontline officials who serviced the vessel have been placed in a controlled isolation. They will be tested over the next five days.
After it docked in Pago Pago, the US coastguard ordered the ship back out to sea.