A three-day disembarkation process has been completed in Wallis and Futuna for 100 residents who had been stranded in New Caledonia.
Returning residents leave quarantine on ship Photo: supplied FB
After delays on arrival with testing for Covid-19 the last passengers were allowed to go ashore, ending their two-week quarantine on board the French cruise ship, Le Laperouse.
The ship had taken five days from New Caledonia to Wallis and then waited anchored nearby to complete the quarantine.
The Le Laperouse will return to New Caledonia to get another 100 Wallisians and Futunians stuck since air links were cut in March, allowing Wallis and Futuna to remain coronavirus-free.
No date has been given for the reopening of flights between the two territories.
The cruise ship, with its 94 crew, had been anchored off New Caledonia for weeks after offloading its passengers in Wellington in mid-March when concern mounted that they would have trouble finding flights back to their home countries.
Wallis and Futuna awaiting returnees from Noumea Photo: supplied FB
