police investigating quarantine breach after nurse allegedly abscond from quarantine site
1 February 2022: Through a press release this afternoon, the Government has announced that there has been a serious breach of quarrantine regulations by a driver from the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) and a nurse from the quarrantine site at the Shrine of Three Hearts.
The press release confirms rumours floating on social media in the past 24 hours of people who should have been in quarrantine seen out using an ATM at Fugalei. The breach was reported by the Disaster Finance Team from the Ministry of Finance to the NEOC last Saturday.
It has been confirmed that a NEOC driver left the quarrantine site at 2.30pm on Saturday 29 January intending to refuel his vehicle at the government filling station at Lepea. Prior to leaving the site, a quarrantine nurse requested that she be taken to the SCB ATM near the Fugalei market.
The driver has confirmed that he refilled his vehicle and took the quarrantine nurse to the ATM. He then proceeded to the Ministry of Health to pick up further supplies before returning to the quarrantine site.
Both the driver and the nurse defended their actions saying that they took every precaution to "minimise exposure to the general public", the press statement claims. This included the driver remaining in the vehicle while the quarrantine nurse made her transactions and both being "decontaminated" prior to leaving the quarrantine site.
The matter is currently under Police investigation and both the driver and nurse have even grounded at the quarrantine site for the duration of the quarrantine period.
Quarrantine nurses care for and undertake regular tests of people confined to a quarrantine site. The nurses interact directly with the people in quarrantine and are prohibited from leaving the site at any time during the 3 week quarrantine period.
Meanwhile the country remains at Level 2 alert with businesses operating under strict protocols, schools remain closed and 30 people are in isolation at the TTM Hospital having rested s positive for 2 different Covid variants.
In a separate release, the Government confirms there is no evidence of community transmission at this stage.