Samoa detects scores of COVID cases within days of outbreak

Samoa has reported scores of new COVID-19 cases daily since detecting its first case of community transmission last week

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Samoa has reported scores of new COVID-19 cases each day since detecting its first case of community transmission last week.

The South Pacific island nation of 200,000 people has been in lockdown since Saturday as it deals with its first outbreak of the pandemic.

The outbreak was discovered when a woman who was about to travel tested positive for the virus last Thursday and indicates the virus likely had been spreading undetected for days or even weeks.

Samoa reported another 95 new cases in 24 hours to Saturday and another 85 on Sunday.