PIC rented for night of quarantine

The Pacific Islands Club Saipan in San Antonio. (KRIZEL TUAZON)

With the overflow of people in quarantine at Kanoa Resort in Susupe and Mariana Resort & Spa in Marpi, the Governor’s COVID-19 Task Force had to rent overnight quarantine accommodations for inbound travelers at the Pacific Islands Club Saipan in San Antonio last Aug 10.

According to Warren Villagomez, who chairs the task force, PIC rooms were rented only for overnight last Aug. 10 and the passengers—all of them returning residents—were released Aug. 11. Villagomez said there were no contracts for the PIC rental since it was just an overnight stay for the passengers.

“There was no contract as it’s just basically room rental. …It was just basically renting rooms for a number of passengers that came in. It was not a detailed contract where we’re renting the entire PIC; it was just basically room rental contract,” he said.

In a separate radio briefing last Aug. 11, Villagomez said they were able to obtain the services of PIC by just doing a “request for proposal” or RFP.

“We were able to do an RFP, as guided by the Attorney General and CNMI [Office of] Procurement [and Supply]…to meet the inbound requirement and procedure. …PIC was able to accommodate us for the Jeju flight,” said Villagomez.

Esther Muña, the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.’s chief executive officer, said the passengers who were on the Jeju Airlines flight that came in from South Korea were returning residents.

Since South Korea is considered a low-risk country, those passengers were able to do home-quarantine after being able to present the proper documents, Villagomez said. Those who came in without proper documents, such as a polymerase chain reaction test, were transferred to Kanoa Resort or Marianas Resort & Spa.

The returning residents who came in on the Jeju flight did not have to pay for anything, Muña said.

COVID-19 in Guam

A total of 15 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed yesterday. Four cases were identified through contact tracing. Two cases reported recent travel from the continental United States and were identified in a quarantine facility.

To date, there have been a total of 449 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Guam, with five deaths, 341 released from isolation, and 103 active cases. Of those cases, 398 are classified as civilians and 51 are military service members.

On Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020, the Guam Department of Education was notified that an employee at Simon Sanchez High School tested positive for COVID-19. The contact tracing effort is ongoing. Beginning today, Aug. 13, 2020, Simon Sanchez High School will fully close for the remainder of this week. The school is expected to reopen by the first day of classes on Monday, August 17, 2020.

MD: Task Force rented PIC as a quarantine for 1 night
KW: COVID-19, quarantine