There are currently two children being isolated in the children's ward at the Tupua Tamasese Meaole hospital in Motootua as they were tested positive for COVID-19.

This was confirmed by hospital staff members as well as a security who all did not want to be named due to work policies but confirmed that the two children who tested positive were being monitored at the High Dependency Unit (HDU).

Samoa Observer visited the children's hospital on Saturday and was told by a staff that they were not allowed to enter the HDU room as visitors were limited due to the two positive cases of COVID-19.

This newspaper understands that the caregivers of the two children being isolated are not forbidden from leaving and returning to the unit or exposing themselves outside of the HDU even though they wear masks.

"It's not as serious as before so the caregivers are not restricted from leaving the room if they want to but just the other visitors whose access to the HDU is limited," one of the parents at the children's ward told this newspaper on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the latest Syndromic Surveillance and COVID-19 report by the Ministry of Health (M.O.H.) recorded a total of 58 new positive cases with the positivity rate spiking to 8.66 percent.

The recorded cases continue to increase as the week before that recorded 41 new cases with a 6.14 positivity rate.

"The Ministry of Health continues to encourage all the eligible population especially those who are high risk to get their booster doses at any health facility in Upolu and Savaii," the report reads.

Meanwhile, this boosts the cumulative number of COVID-19 positive cases to 16,942 with the number of COVID-19-related deaths since community transmission detected in March 17, 2022 remaining at 31. No new cases were recorded at the borders.