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Quarantine, screening still ongoing at Saipan airport
Construction of isolation area close to completion
Despite limitations brought about by the “network blackout,” the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. is continuing its operations to screen passengers at the airport for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS.
According to Warren Villagomez, CHCC Public Health and Hospital Preparedness Program director, the MERS screening operation at the Francisco C. Ada-Saipan International Airport is ongoing and they have no issues with communications.
“We have been responding and meeting and there wasn’t any communication barriers,” Villagomez said. “We have been working and focusing on the MERS issue and it is still ongoing and the latest development is that the identified staff has completed the badge process, meaning having access through the airport and the secure side of the airport.”
He noted that the construction of an isolation, screening, quarantine site at the airport is ongoing and should be done soon.
“The effort is there on CHCC’s side and management. So we can shift the room into isolation but also making sure it doesn’t cross-contaminate. The recommendation is to identify, mitigate, and then transport to an area where it is suitable for longer-term care,” he said.
The site is called an “All Hazard Screen Disease Area” that not only will be used for MERS but also other outbreaks that could possibly enter the CNMI. CHCC medical director Dr. John Doyle said the area had been designed and designated.
“So we’re set up at between arrival gate [of the Saipan International Airport] and the CNMI Customs and Border Protection. So we’ll have the questionnaires coming out of the plane if it becomes necessary as a line of defense. The second line of defense is us, screening anything that comes back positive coming off the plane,” Doyle said.
Doyle said that CBP is the third line of defense. There are also medical supplies in the area but not the whole equipment until construction is done.
