Fiji, Samoa tighten travel restrictions to curb COVID-19

Fiji and Samoa tightened on Tuesday night their travel restrictions as part of their efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Fiji Airways, Fiji's national carrier, said on Tuesday that it will no longer operate any further Singapore and Hong Kong flights after Singapore and China's Hong Kong sharpened their border restrictions.

Last Friday, the airline announced to suspend all international flights until the end of May with the exception of twice-weekly services between Singapore and Nadi, Fiji. This is a 95 percent reduction in flights which has resulted in the airline implementing Leave Without Pay of four weeks between April and June for all employees. And the airline will also mount recovery services to and from Tokyo (Narita) and Hong Kong on Friday and Sunday respectively.

Meanwhile, Samoa said on Tuesday that the state of emergency orders, which was declared last Friday, has been amended to include the latest additional orders which were signed into law on Tuesday.

Included in the amended orders is ceasing of all international travel to and from Samoa by airplane which will come into effect at 12 a.m. on Thursday. Ship access to the wharf in the capital city of Apia is limited specifically for the purposes of trade, fishing, and petroleum, with the Ministry of Health to continue with the approved medical clearance of all crew members, while domestic travel between the country's two main islands of Upolu and Savaii for the general public is also ceased, except ferry travel for trade and government services.