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‘No evidence so far of wide community transmission’
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Posted on Nov 09 2021
There is no evidence so far that would indicate that the community transmission of COVID-19 in the CNMI is widespread, according to Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. chief executive officer Esther L. Muña last Friday, and she assured that the CNMI’s ongoing response is going as planned and as intended.
“We do not have evidence that the community transmission of the virus is widespread. For every public health emergency, there is a recovery plan. Vaccinations, preventative measures implemented at schools, testing, isolation, [and] contact tracing [are] part of that plan. All of these tools prevent community widespread transmission, and that’s what we’re seeing,” said Muña.
During a virtual news briefing last week, Stephanie Kern-Allely, who is a regional communicable disease epidemiologist for the Pacific Island Health Officers Association, said the same thing.
Kern-Allely said the CNMI’s curve at the time did not indicate a spike in community transmission of COVID-19, and it was possible that the CNMI’s high vaccination numbers may have slowed down the spread and may have helped “break the chain of transmission.” Kern-Allely also said last week that the CNMI’s high vaccination numbers help the CNMI “get close to herd immunity.”
Herd immunity refers to a form of indirect disease/infection protection that is achieved when a certain percentage of a population has become immune to an infection either through vaccination or past exposure to an infection/disease, reducing the chances of community spread and allowing those with no immunity to remain healthy without receiving a vaccine shot or being exposed to the disease.
