1 presumptive positive case

An asymptomatic 17-year-old male has been declared a presumptive case for COVID-19 after testing positive at the mass testing site at the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport.

This individual, who had no symptoms for COVID-19, is now considered a person under investigation and has been isolated at Kanoa Resort, and contact investigation has started, according to a statement last night from the Governor’s COVID-19 Task Force and the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.

Further evaluation is being obtained from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to make a final case determination.

“This PUI is being closely monitored by the CHCC medical team. CHCC has already initiated contact tracing for the most immediate contacts (close family members, friends, and associates) of the PUI,” the statement said.

Besides this presumptive positive case, over 1,000 other individuals have tested negative for COVID-19 at the drive-thru mass testing at the Saipan airport since April 28.

According to the CHCC website, a total of 1,480 have gotten tested at the Saipan airport. In a separate TV interview with CHCC chief executive officer Esther Muña, she said that, as of May 4, a total of 1,022 individuals have tested negative for COVID-19. Additionally, there are 313 specimens that are pending. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy.

Muña stated that once an individual has tested positive for the virus, they will immediately go into isolation at the Alternative Care Site at Kanoa Resort. “We’re doing the community-based testing to figure out if there’s somebody out there that’s not reporting to the hospital,” said Muña.

For anyone who does have symptoms, Muña recommends that they should call the Commonwealth Health Center first to make sure that they are aware that the affected person will be going to the hospital. Upon arrival, CHC will “process” them as a patient.

Luckily, Muña said that they haven’t seen anyone who has come forward to say that they think they have COVID-19. “Having the community-based testing is helpful for us to find out what’s out there in the community,” she added.

According to Muña, passengers who are coming into Saipan from Guam cannot be exempted from the quarantine under any circumstances. That is, unless the passenger(s) have tested negative within the last 72 hours.

As the passengers arrive on Saipan, they have the option to stay in quarantine at the Pacific Islands Club Saipan in San Antonio for 14 days or get tested and wait for the results at PIC.

Muña said that they are still required to enroll in CHCC’s monitoring system for 14 days. The monitoring system records and keeps track of how an individual is doing and if they are experiencing any COVID-19-like symptoms.

“Going back to comparing a [Federal Drug Administration] equipment to a non-FDA equipment, at the end of the day, the process itself ends at the hands of the pathologist,” said Muña. “The doctor that says, ‘Yes this test is valid,’ these results are valid and signs off on it.”

Muna said it’s important to be mindful that the people who are involved are all professionals, and they’re doing this the right way and doing what is acceptable.

Additionally, some passengers who flew in on May 2 already had documents that they have been tested within the last 72 hours with negative results. Some still got tested once they arrived on island, and four passengers decided to stay for the mandatory 14-day quarantine.

Plans are also in place for Rota and Tinian to begin their community-based testing.

To date, the CNMI has a total of 14 confirmed positive COVID-19 case, with two deaths and 12 recoveries.

COVID-19 in Guam

The Department of Public Health and Social Services tested 42 individuals for COVID-19 on May 4 and nobody tested positive.

The results include samples from clinics, hospitals, and the quarantine facility. DPHSS has targeted areas where infection may occur due to lack of access to health care, and in densely populated apartment complexes.

The DPHSS overall count also includes probable cases of COVID-19 and confirmed positive cases tested by the Naval Health Research Center in San Diego, California, the U.S. Naval Hospital Guam, the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority, Guam Regional Medical City, the Guam National Guard, and Diagnostic Laboratory Services.

To date, there have been 149 cases confirmed through COVID-19 testing, with five deaths and 125 released from isolation.