Playbook of priorities now in place

With Guam now confirmed to have five COVID-19 cases, the CNMI COVID-19 task force has come up with what it describes as a “playbook of priorities” for the CNMI government to prevent an outbreak of COVID-19 in the CNMI.

In a meeting last Monday at the Governor’s Office, COVID-19 task force chair Warren Villagomez reassured that protocols are in place to ward off the possible entry of the coronavirus into the CNMI. The meeting was also attended by Gov. Ralph DLG Torres, members of the COVID-19 task force, and Commonwealth Health Care Corp. CEO Esther Muña.

According to Villagomez, the task force’s playbook of priorities ensures that schools have a system determining triggers for school closures, disinfection of schools, and making sure that any outbreak or potential case will be contained and minimized and not affect the 12,000 school population.

Other components of the playbook include lessening community events, discouraging social gatherings of more than 50 people, and practicing social distancing.

“We are continuing to work on enhancing the playbook of priorities to make sure that we work along with [Muna] on the mission that is coming out of CHCC,” said Villagomez.

Additionally, Villagomez said that the U.S. Department of Defense has already reached out to the task force to provide resources to go out and do an outreach to the community to reassure them.

Torres himself assured that the task force is working to the best of its ability to keep the Northern Marianas safe. Protocols are in place at all ports of entry on Saipan to ensure that all arriving travelers, passengers, and cargo are being screened for COVID-19, he said.

“Please do not panic, [but] please do take the extra precautionary measures [such as] sanitation and avoid handshaking,” said Torres.

Torres pointed out that panicking and misunderstanding and/or absorbing wrong information won’t help in this critical situation. In addition, get your information from reliable sources such as CHCC, the Governor’s Office, or the Centers for Disease Control, he added.

“We are here to tell you that we are 100% certain we are doing everything we can to prevent any outbreak in the CNMI,” said Torres. If and when that happens, the playbook of actions are in place to guide the CNMI in moving forward.

Torres emphasized that the elderly and those with weak immune systems should stay home since they are more vulnerable to the virus.