A flight attendant in French Polynesia has tested positive for covid-19 – the second Tahiti infection recorded in three days.

The government said the Air Tahiti Nui staff member tested positive during a routine scan on Tuesday.

The person has been placed in isolation.

READ MORE: Quarantine overload forces Samoa repatriation pause

A month ago, Air Tahiti Nui resumed regular flights to France and in mid-July it added Los Angeles to its network coinciding with the lifting of quarantine requirements for people landing in Tahiti.

At the weekend, an American tourist tested positive for covid-19 in a self-test carried out while travelling on the Paul Gauguin cruise ship.

The ship returned to port two days ago and all other 339 people on board subsequently tested negative and were allowed to disembark.

The French Polynesian President, Edouard Fritch, said 24 tests of the closest contacts were carried out immediately while the remaining 315 tests of passengers and crew were completed on Tuesday.

‘No breaches’ of health protocol
The French High Commissioner, Dominique Sorain, said there were no breaches of the health protocol which required travellers from abroad to test negative no more three days before arriving in Tahiti.

Travellers then must self-test on the fourth day of their stay.

However, Fritch said from now on a covid-19 test would be added for those wanting to board for a cruise.

He said the woman in question who had tested positive was asymptomatic.

He said tests would be carried out among the people she had contact with in Bora Bora where the Paul Gauguin was for two days before aborting the cruise.

The ship’s operator, Ponant, was offering several compensation options to the customers whose cruise was cut short.

This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.

Air Tahiti Nui has decided to reroute its flights to France via the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.

The change was announced after the US banned travellers from Europe for a month.

The usual stopover point between Paris and Pape’ete had been Los Angeles.

The airline had earlier planned to maintain its France flights by routing its planes via Vancouver in Canada.

Air Tahiti Nui is, however, maintaining its Tahiti to Los Angeles return service.

The airline has also scheduled a one-off direct flight from Pape’ete to Paris but said because of the jetstream the distance is too great for a direct return flight.

The airline French Bee was first to announce that it was flying via Guadeloupe.

The coronavirus outbreak has reached French Polynesia, where three people have tested positive.

The first case was diagnosed after a French Polynesian politician flew back from Paris.

This article is republished under the Pacific Media Centre’s content partnership with Radio New Zealand.

The end of French Polynesia’s airport firefighters strike has been held up in Tahiti amid a dispute between two unions, Radio New Zealand International reports.

Most grievances have been settled and outer island airports have resumed full services, RNZI reported today.

However, firefighters employed by the airport company at Fa’aa international airport on the main island of Tahiti Nui have yet to agree to return to work.

This has affected the schedule of international flights, said RNZI.

French High Commissioner Rene Bidal expressed concern at the impasse and warned that firefighters ordered to maintain a basic service risked jail if they refused to comply.

The five-day stoppage last week crippled domestic air travel to dozens of destinations and disrupted tourism.

Protocol signed
RNZI had earlier reported yesterday that Air Tahiti Nui was continuing to fly hundreds of stranded travellers across French Polynesia.

A protocol had been been signed to end part of the dispute.

The deal reached was between the civil aviation authorities and publicly employed firefighters.

However, reported RNZI, an agreement also needed to be concluded with striking firefighters hired by private airport operators.