All 45 passengers repatriated from Fiji and Kiribati on Wednesday have tested negative for CoViD-19 confirmed MEIDECC CEO Paula Ma'u this afternoon.

The passengers were tested on arrival in Tonga.

They will be tested again for CoViD-19 on the 14^th day of quarantine before they are released to their homes where they will spend a further 7 days in home quarantine.

Less 18

Paula said only 38 passengers were repatriated from Fiji out of the 56 that had registered to return to Tonga. Another seven passengers were repatriated from Kiribati, plus one deceased.

There were a number of reasons for the reduced number from Fiji.

Paula said some students stayed back for their studies and other business, and others stayed back for later flights.

There was also the issue with the cost of the CoViD-19 test as well as the cost of the return ticket to Tonga, especially for families. And some people presented the wrong test results instead of CoViD test results at check in, while others did not get their test results in time.

The repatriation flight from Fiji was a commercial one. The flight from Kiribati was chartered by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Repatriation flight from Solomon Islands

The next repatriation flight will come from the Solomon Islands via Vanuatu and is scheduled to arrive in Tonga tomorrow, 5 September.

Paula Ma'u confirmed this flight is chartered by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was expected to arrive at 3:25pm with around 25 people.

“They will also be quarantined at the Tanoa Hotel.”