A TalofaPass team from American Samoa will be travelling to Samoa as help desk agents next week to help travelers from Apia comply with the requirements of the registration system.
They will field a temporary help desk in Samoa.
Responding to KHJ News questions, Medicaid Director Sandra King Young said the Governor’s Authorized Representative Lt Governor Talauega Eleasalo Ale wanted her office to provide assistance to travelers from that side with registration on TalofaPass and meeting the requirements of the system.
“At the same time we are working closely with Datahouse to revamp the Talofapass so it is more user-friendly and that it is aligned to our new and simpler policies for travel,” she said.
King Young pointed out that TalofaPass was built “for when we had quarantine for Hawaii. It was not designed for travel between here and Samoa.”
The Medicaid Director explained, “But we are working on fixing that now that travel is stabilizing and DOH rules on testing have relaxed—so Talofapass is uniform for all travelers. Before we had different rules from different locations.”
It’s planned that the team will be going to Apia on Monday.
It was announced at the Covid-19 Task Force press conference yesterday that the number of passengers allowed on each of the three days of inter Samoa flights will be increased from 28 to 50.
The days for flights are Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. but Local businesses, mainly construction companies, have also done charters outside the designated flight days. At present only Samoa Airways is flying the route but Talofa Airways is expected to resume service in August.
There are still several American Samoa residents in Samoa awaiting flights to return home.
