Guam: One more death, plus 105 additional cases

Guam saw its sixth COVID-19 death yesterday, in addition to 105 new positive cases—its highest one-day spike so far.

According to a statement from the Joint Information Center, the newest fatality in Guam is a 70-year-old male who was taken to the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority at approximately 5:14am yesterday and was pronounced dead on arrival.

“He was not a known COVID-19 case; however, he was swabbed at GMHA and his results came back positive and the fatality will be counted in Guam’s overall COVID-19 case count. The patient had no travel history,” the JIC statement added.

In a video message of Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero that was widely circulated on social media, she said: “Today, with great sadness and difficulty, I must announce we have lost another person to this virus. Reporting deaths is never easy, but we can easily forget that the numbers we report represent real people. We grieve for him and all the lives we lost in this battle. I have personally reached out to his family to offer our deepest condolences and sympathies on behalf of Lt. Gov. Josh [Tenorio] and the entire island community.”

In this frame grab from a video message of Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, she said: “Today, with great sadness and difficulty, I must announce we have lost another person to this virus.” (SAIPAN TRIBUNE)

As for the 105 new cases of COVID-19 that were confirmed by the Guam Department of Public Health & Social Services, Leon Guerrero said, “This by far represented the largest cases in a day since the start of this pandemic.” She added that 28% of the cases that were reported in Guam were recorded within the last couples of weeks and anticipates that 20% of the cases will end up in the hospital, which will push Guam hospitals to full capacity.

Leon Guerrero urged Guam residents that they cannot become “comfortable” nor “surrender to complacency.”

“We are not invincible. No matter how young and healthy you are, you are still at risk and you are putting others at risk too,” said Leon Guerrero.

Guam returned to full lockdown this week and additional measures are being implemented effective 12pm of today, Aug. 21, for one week, durig which all businesses will be closed with the exception of grocery stores, health care operations, including pharmacies, gas stations, convenience stores, hardware stores, and those operations critical to health, shelter, and the preservation of life.

“It is my hope that this escalation will last only a week, just long enough to flatten our rising curve,” said Leon Guerrero.