19th COVID death; 2 cases on Rota; 145 new cases ID’d

The CNMI recorded its 19th COVID-19-related death last Friday. A total of 145 new cases were recorded in the CNMI across three days. And two cases were found on Rota—the island’s first.

These were the latest in COVID-19-related news in the CNMI, with the Governor’s COVID-19 Task Force and the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. confirming the 19th COVID-19-related death in the CNMI in a news release last Friday. As per its standard procedure, the CHCC news release did not disclose further details of the new fatality. A previous CHCC statement cited patient confidentiality and privacy for this lack of further details.

In Guam, its Joint Information Center was notified that the territory’s 274th COVID-19-related fatality occurred at the Guam Memorial Hospital on Dec. 2, 2021. The patient was a 76-year-old female, vaccinated with underlying health conditions. She tested positive on Sept. 18, 2021.  Also, JIC reported that Guam has a total of 458 new positive cases identified on Jan. 6, 7, and 8, 2022.

Separately, in a series of news releases, CHCC disclosed that a total of 145 cases were confirmed positive for COVID-19 in the CNMI.

CHCC first reported late Thursday night 65 cases that were identified from surveillance and travel testing on Jan. 4 and 5, 2022, followed by 43 more cases reported last Friday and identified from surveillance and travel testing on Jan. 6, 2022. A third news release reported 37 more cases identified from surveillance and travel testing on Jan. 7, 2022.

As for the Rota cases, CHCC reported that the two were identified and confirmed positive on Jan. 7 at the Rota Health Center. CHCC added that a total of four close contacts were identified and that all four tested negative. “Contact tracing will continue until all probable cases are identified and tested,” said CHCC.

Of the 43 new cases that were confirmed positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 6, 13 were found through contact tracing, 22 through community testing, and eight through travel testing.

As for the 37 positive cases on Jan. 7, 17 were found through contact tracing, 11 through community testing, and nine through travel testing.

As of Jan. 7, there have been 2,826 recoveries, 465 active cases, and 16 deaths since Oct. 28. As of Jan. 8, there were 14 active hospitalizations: seven unvaccinated, seven vaccinated, and two on a ventilator.

For vaccination efforts, CHCC reported that the CNMI recently surpassed 100,000 COVID-19 vaccines administered since vaccines were made available more than a year ago. CHCC also reported that 718 COVID-19 shots were administered on Jan. 8, bringing the CNMI’s vaccination rate to 96.7%.

For those wishing to learn more about how to protect you and your families safe from COVID-19, CHCC asks the community to visit https://www.staysafecnmi.com/livecovidsafe/. The website has links to a COVID-19 guidebook, a “10 things” graphic depicting at-home COVID-19 symptom management methods, up-to-date CNMI entry and quarantine protocols, additional information sources, and contact information for those with more questions/ concerns.

If you have concerns regarding possible exposure to a positive case, CHCC asks you to call its contact tracers at 670-285-1942, 670-286-1710, or 670-286-1711.

If you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, which include fever, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, and new loss of taste or smell, CHCC asks you to see your healthcare provider or call the CHCC Tele-Triage hotline at 670-233-2067.