The Vanuatu Government wants to know why 18 passengers were allowed to travel on a cargo flight from New Caledonia last Friday.
Two of the passengers were tested positive for Covid-19 during the routine testing at the quarantine facility in Port Vila on Sunday.
The Government’s Public Relations Officer in the Prime Minister’s Office, Fred Vurobaravu said they want to know why the passengers were allowed on the flight given New Caledonia has cases of the highly contagious Delta variant of Covid-19.
The French overseas territory has been under a lockdown since early September, due to the worsening Covid-19 crisis.
According to the Director of Foreign Affairs, Yvon Basil, the flight last Friday was designated for cargo only.
“We had agreed in a meeting for the flight to carry passengers abroad and bring back cargoes only, because NC is currently a high-risk country,” he said.
“It was agreed that the flight to bring back passengers should happen later, not last Friday. The Ministry of Health is to conduct an assessment to determine the risk status of NC, and after that we can decide if we can bring in passengers.
“I informed the Consul in NC about this. I later learnt from exchange of emails that the flight is bringing back passengers. I don’t know where the authorisation came from.”
The 18 passengers were Ni-Vanuatu returning home.
The Daily Post understands that approval for flights under the current situation are issued by the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO).
Usually, citizens and residents abroad in countries like Fiji, Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia, wanting to return home will have to register with the country’s consul or embassy office in that particularly country.
Tickets will be issued against the list once approval is granted.
Earlier this month, the Director of Health, Len Tarivonda, cautioned that if Vanuatu is not careful, the Delta variant can enter the country.
He stressed this after an additional flight brought in passengers, increasing the quarantine cap beyond 120.
The additional flight was not made known to local authorities until the last minute, as approvals were given at the highest level, according to Tarivonda.
There are eight beds in the isolation facility at Vila Central Hospital (VCH).
There are two other rooms available and both of these can accommodate more beds.
However, altogether, the isolation facility can only cater for 12 people.
Photo file Caption: Port Vila