The second repatriation flight for students in the Philippines scheduled for tomorrow (24th November) has now been cancelled. Sogavare says this decision is made as six more students in the Philippines have tested positive for COVID-19.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare revealed this in his weekly statement.
“This is extremely unfortunate as this flight has been planned for a long time. We commenced our 21 days pre-departure tests three weeks ago on those that were scheduled to travel on this flight. Obviously, the student had broken quarantine in Manila.
“They could not have contracted COVID-19 in the hotel. They would have gone out of the hotel. They have now put all of the students living in the same hotel at risk”, Sogavare says.
He says the test results have just reached the government, and the Oversight Committee has recommended the postponement of the Philippines flight until contact tracing is done.
103 students underwent COVID-19 tests with the hope that they will be repatriated back to the country tomorrow.
The government will continue to meet the costs of the students awaiting repatriation from the Philippines.