Samoa is banning travelers recovering from COVID-19 as new prevention measures are introduced in the wake of the new strain, now known as B.1.1.7.
This is part of new measures introduced by the Samoan government in the last week and are now in effect.
According to a 30 December 2020 travel advisory from the Ministry of Health all intending travelers to Samoa must have a negative COVID-19 test three days or 72 hours, before arrival.
Recovered COVID-19 travellers must wait six months from the date of their first negative test before they are allowed to travel to Samoa, but must meet further health requirements before being allowed to board.
They must have a blood test for COVID-19 five days before their departure, and if possible provide the genome sequencing of their infection to MOH.
The new measures are for all travelers to Samoa and applies also to flight and sea crews.
The Ministry has also upped the ante with requirements for travelers with no history of COVID-19.
They must have both a negative PCR and blood test, done within three and five days before boarding.
This is in addition to the required full medical clearance before travel.
The Ministry of Health, which signs off the travel requirements, also reserves the right to increase quarantine from 14 days to 21 days.
Nearly 300 stranded sailors are expected to travel home on a special repatriation flight January 22, 2021.
Some of the sailors are reported to have contracted COVID-19 while stranded in Europe but it is not clear if they have met the new requirements.
Samoa last week placed a ban on all travellers from Britain as well as South Africa after news of the new B.1.1.7 strain.
