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School in Covid-free Samoa closes after student's family member has contact with infected ship

The Samoan government dismissed the idea after Kiwi officials said they won't be pre-testing Kiwi travellers to the nation.

An Apia primary school in Samoa has closed and others are in emergency meetings after hearing there may have been local contact with a cargo ship with Covid-19 cases on board.

Three crew on board the Fesco Askold, which arrived in American Samoa yesterday, have tested positive and nobody has been allowed off the ship.

The vessel had originated from California on October 25 and had day stops in Tahiti on November 4 and in Apia four days later.

In a notice to parents from St Peters Chanel School in Moamoa, principal Tepora Tu’i wrote that “a student in Year 1 has been in direct contact with a family member who worked in clearing cargo from the Fesco Askold Ship”.

The principal advised parents to pick up their children and the school was waiting for the Government announcement as contact tracing is in place.

Samoa has strict protocols in place for the delivery of cargo and there is not meant to be any contact with crew members.

The Pacific nation is still on edge after a measles epidemic saw many families lose young children last year.

It has yet to record a case of coronavirus. 

Meanwhile in French Polynesia many schools are on strike today over the government’s response to soaring Covid-19 rates - one of the worst in the world.

Another 10 people died over the weekend, bringing the death toll to 49, and there’s been more than 10,600 cases since the borders opened in July with no quarantine required.

The education sector is demanding stricter measures as there are not enough masks for students and social distancing in classrooms is an issue.

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