CHCC could soon be able to ID COVID variants in the CNMI

The Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. says the CNMI could soon have the equipment needed to test COVID-19 specimens and identify what variant is on-island.

Since the start of the COVID-19 surge, the CNMI, as well as Guam, has had to send its COVID-19 specimens off island for testing to identify what COVID-19 strains are circulating within the CNMI.

Now, however, CHCC is getting closer to acquiring the equipment needed to be able to identify COVID-19 variants on-island, said CHCC chief executive officer Esther Muña.

“We did request for a purchase of this equipment. Unfortunately, it’s not here yet. But it is in the CNMI’s strategy as a future investment in public health. We need to make sure that what we do is sustainable for any new variant and any new infection that comes our way,” she said.

To date, Muña said, based on the samples that have been sent off island for testing, COVID-19 variants that continue to plague the CNMI are the delta and omicron variants.

During a press briefing last Friday, Muña said that the number of COVID-19 cases in the CNMI, as well hospitalizations, continue to decline and the CNMI is steadily progressing to level medium on the U.S Center of Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 community level metric system.

Last week, the CNMI saw the biggest indicator of a decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations when CHCC put the COVID-19 Alternative Care site in Kanoa in a “warm” state, essentially closing the site for the time being.

“For the last couple of weeks, we have not had any patients at the Alternative Care Site. So, as we’re seeing zero hospitalizations over at the Alternative Care Site, we’ve put it into a warm state. Warm state means that all the equipment will be there and we will ensure that preventive maintenance is done so when there’s a need for it, or if there is a surge again, or for any reason whatsoever, we will be able to utilize it and return it to what we call hot state,” she said.

The CHCC CEO said putting the ACS in a warm state was the best decision, as opposed to completely shutting it down, because it keeps the CNMI prepared for whatever COVID-19 variant may pop up next.

“There’s a lot of information coming in. We just want to make sure that we do this right. So putting the ACS in a warm state is the best decision for us, rather than completely shutting it down,” she said.