Guam COVID-19 update

Editor’s Note: The following is the transcript of the latest COVID-19 special address of Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, which was provided last Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022.

As we near the second year mark since this God-awful virus invaded our lives, it’s important for us all to take a moment and simply breathe. Take stock of the hurdles you have overcome. Take time to feel the gratitude that gives purpose to our lives.

As we recalibrate ourselves, we also take time to recognize the terrible toll our island has suffered. This week, Guam’s COVID-related deaths surpassed 300, and it is a moral imperative for us to give meaning to these monumental losses.

We join our community in mourning those we have loved and lost in this precarious time. Man’åmko who had lived full, fruit-bearing lives. Changemakers in the middle of their journeys. Young dreamers with the world ahead of them.

With determination to save more lives and balance our initiatives to rebuild Guam, we decisively met this omicron-driven surge with the support of all the health interventions available to us that are trusted and proven at preserving life.

Since January, we have performed more than 70,000 tests with an average of nearly 2,000 per day. Despite the national shortage, we continue placing orders for more test kits and have focused our efforts on a targeted approach.

Beginning today, Public Health has partnered with Joint Task Force 671 of the Guam National Guard to directly target the virus and protect at-risk communities from reaching concerning levels of transmission, as part of Operation Homebound.

Three teams consisting of a healthcare worker, combat medic, and interpreters have been mobilized to conduct home testing, vaccinations, and health assessments in communities of concern and underserved communities across our island.

Social workers will also be present to increase awareness and offer assistance in applying for Medicaid and Medicare insurance, and welfare, housing, and nutrition programs. These joint efforts are another tool added to Guam’s COVID defense kit.

Beyond reaching out directly to underserved people, these mobile track, test, and treatment teams will help us better understand the health trends in populations that are unaware of the severe symptoms that could lead to a hospital trip or worse.

We know our health interventions are working. Masks help prevent spread of the virus. Vaccines and boosters help prevent severe illness, hospitalization, and death.

While COVID’s impacts have varied, it has been our commitment to Wearing masks, Washing our hands, and Watching our distance—and getting vaccinated and boosted—that has made the greatest positive impact in securing our path forward.

Public Health experts tell us we are starting to see the end stage of the pandemic and at a recent meeting of the nation’s governors, the consensus was that hope remains. We are beating COVID-19 and building a better future for us all.

Guam is getting through this and for doing your part, we cannot thank you enough.

LOURDES A. LEON GUERRERO (Special to the Saipan Tribune)
Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero is the governor of Guam.