Wellington, Jan 22 (AP) The prime minister of Samoa has placed the small Pacific nation into a 48-hour lockdown after 15 passengers on a flight from Australia tested positive for COVID-19.

The infected passengers were among 73 who arrived from Brisbane on Wednesday.

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Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa also said Saturday the government may cancel further flights from Australia.

A scheduled flight from New Zealand on Saturday has already been postponed, according to Radio New Zealand.

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All the passengers were reportedly fully vaccinated and had tested negative for COVID-19 before departure.

The governor of neighbouring American Samoa, Lemanu Palepoi Sialega “Peleti” Mauga, issued a statement offering words of solidarity to Samoa and support for its prime minister.

He also announced the cancellation of flights between the territory and Samoa for one week.

Samoa, population 200,000, has reported 18 active cases.

American Samoa also has 18 cases, all of them travellers from Hawaii on Hawaiian Airlines flights from Honolulu. The latest group of seven who tested positive arrived Jan 6.

There is no lockdown in American Samoa and flights between Honolulu and Pago Pago continue on limited basis. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)