The blood samples from the positive coronavirus tests detected in quarantine have turned out to be the Delta variant of Covid-19.
Director of Health Motusa Tuileama Nua referred questions about the test results to Department of Health Epidemiologist Dr Aifili John Tufa who said that the blood samples that were sequenced were of the Delta strain.
The samples were collected from the time that commercial flights for Hawaiian Airlines started, which is also when pre-travel quarantine in Honolulu had ended, up to November.
The specimens were sent to CDC Honolulu for testing.
Dr Tufa said more samples will be sent from the six positive cases from the January 6th flight.
He said all six are fully vaccinated and asymptomatic. They are being isolated at the Alternate Care Facility in Tafuna and will be in quarantine for an extra 14 days.
Health officials suspect that some of the them have contracted the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
The next Covid test for the travelers will be done tomorrow, Thursday.
