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IN HIGHEST SPIKE YET IN THE CNMI
49 positives ID’d in 3 days
1 hospitalized, 79 active cases, 457 total cases
Since Thursday night to Saturday, a total of 49 individuals have been identified and confirmed positive for COVID-19, mostly surveillance testing. These cases bring the CNMI’s total to 457.
As of Nov. 20, the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. also reported that there is one active COVID-19-related hospitalization and 79 active cases.
Since Oct. 28, there have been 166 new cases. Of the 166, 107 were identified through contact tracing, 48 through community-based testing, and 11 through travel testing.
CHCC put out three releases between Nov. 18 to 20, reporting in total 49 of the CNMI’s most recent cases of COVID-19.
On Nov. 18, CHCC reported that 23 positive cases were identified through travel and surveillance testing on Nov. 17—so far the highest single-day increase in the number of positive cases identified in the CNMI since the pandemic started in March 2020. A day after, seven were found through travel and surveillance testing on Nov. 14 and 18. On Nov. 20, 19 cases were found through surveillance testing on Nov. 19.
In all its news releases over the weekend, CHCC said all affected individuals have since been isolated and are being actively monitored. CHCC added that its Communicable Disease Investigation/ Inspection team has already reached out to individuals who were in closest contact to these cases and that the contact tracing team’s efforts “will continue until all probable cases are identified and tested”.
In related news, speaking on the radio last Friday, CHCC chief executive officer Esther L. Muña said that, as of last Friday, around 70% of the cases identified since Oct. 28 were found through contact tracing. Muña said she is confident in the contact tracing team’s ability to “identify the high-risk individuals quickly, get them tested, and quarantined if necessary.”
Speaking briefly about the one active hospitalization, Muña said Friday that the individual is receiving treatment and is being actively monitored. Muña added that she checked on the patient last Friday and that the person is stable. For the sake of patient privacy, Muña said no further information will be disclosed at this time.
Muña also reminds the community: “We are still in a pandemic, but we have the vaccination rate and treatment to fight it.” She also asked the community to continue following the “3 W’s”: wash your hands, watch your distance, and wear a face covering.
