The 150 quarantine passengers repatriated from New Zealand have been released to go home after they all tested negative for CoViD-19, confirmed the Ministry of Health CEO, Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola, today.

“They still need one week of home quarantine for added safety,” he told Matangi Tonga.

Health workers will continue to monitor the passengers during their home quarantine over the seven days.

Meanwhile, the next repatriation flight to Tonga will not be from New Zealand.

Dr 'Akau'ola said the next repatriation flight is planned for next Saturday, 29 August, for a group of stranded Tongans in the Solomon Islands and Samoa.

“But details are still being finalized before final approval by NEMC and Cabinet.”

The MEIDECC office confirmed today there were now 3,175 people registered on the government’s repatriation registry list who want to return to Tonga. So far, only 207 people have been repatriated (57 from Fiji, and 150 from New Zealand).