American Samoa is still COVID-19 free but there was a close call.
This morning a purse seine the Rosita C which traveled from Ecuador got approval from the Department of Health Command Post to come into port and docked at the main dock .
John Fuimaono, Port Chief of Health and four other DOH personnel went on board and did swabs of the 33 crew members.
They were all suited up with Personnel Protective Equipment from head to toe.
Fuimaono said temperature logs for the crew which the vessel had to submit prior before its arrival showed normal temperatures.
The vessel, he said, had been at sea for more than 30 days.
When DOH boarded the Rosita C , the crew members were required to wear N95 masks.
swabs were taken of all the crew members and according to Fuimaono one of the crew has a temperature reading of 97.7.
A test was conducted on the DOH Abbott machine and the result was positive. But this would later turn out to be a false positive.
DOH Epidemiologist Dr. Aifili John Tufa said when a person is not sick he accuracy of the test result on the Abbott machine is not 100%.
The fishing vessel was sent out of the port and DOH conducted a second test using the GeneXpert machine which is a more sophisticated machine to test for coronavirus.
And while DOH awaited the result of that test they took measures in the event that the test would come back positive. This included the lock down of the Tafuna Community Health Center. KHJ News learned that LBJ Hospital also got its negative pressure tent ready.
The test on the GeneXpert machine came out negative.
Meanwhile word had spread quickly early of the positive test result with people posting on FB urging parents to pick up their children from school.
We were bombarded with calls, emails and messages but continued to urge people to wait for the official word form DOH. That was also the advice from Director of Health Motusa Tuileama Nua.
Although the test was negative, DOH is not taking any chances and is putting their five people who went on board the vessel in quarantine for three days. “This is just another ;evel of protection,” said Dr Tufa
After 4 pm the Department of Homeland Security/TEMCO issued a special bulletin.
“Please be advised that we have received official word from the Department of Health that the second more detailed test results have come back to be negative. Therefore making the first sample a false positive as initially suspected. Also therefore, no confirmed COVID- 19 case(s) for American Samoa.”
