100 days with zero transmission

Effective today, Friday, the CNMI will have gone 101 days with zero community transmission of the COVID-19 virus, according to a statement from the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.

Thanksgiving Day yesterday coincided with the 100th day that the CNMI has had zero community transmission of the COVID-19 virus and all new recorded cases have all come from arriving passengers, who are tested as soon as they arrive and are placed in mandatory quarantine. The last case of community transmission in the CNMI was recorded on Aug. 18, 2020, the CNMI’s 54th COVID-19 case.

Last Monday, 36 incoming passengers were swabbed and tested negative for COVID-19. Last Nov. 24, 93 passengers were swabbed on their fifth day of testing and were all negative for COVID-19.

“It takes an average of 5-6 days for an infected person with the coronavirus to start showing symptoms. Testing five days after arrival will help find those who were not showing any signs of infection (asymptomatic) or have tested negative upon arrival,” said a CHCC statement.

It cautioned, however, that, despite the lack of local transmission cases, “we should still not let our guard down.”

COVID-19 in Guam

Guam has had two more COVID-19-related fatalities—a 61-year-old male and a 64-year-old female—yesterday, bringing the death toll to 111.

The Joint Information Center in Guam stated that Guam’s 110th COVID-19-related fatality happened at the Guam Memorial Hospital at approximately 9:40am yesterday. The patient was a 61-year-old male with underlying conditions that were further compounded by COVID-19. He was admitted to GMH on last Oct. 15, and was a known positive case.

Guam’s 111th COVID-19-related fatality also happened at the GMH at approximately 12:33pm. The patient was a 64-year-old female with underlying conditions that were further compounded by COVID-19. She was admitted to GMH last Nov. 8, and was a known positive case.

Additionally, 43 of 237 individuals tested yesterday tested positive for COVID-19. To date, there have been a total of 6,748 officially reported cases of COVID-19 in Guam, with 111 deaths, 1,680 cases in active isolation and 4,957 not in active isolation.

As of Nov. 26, 2020, Guam’s COVID-19 Area Risk or CAR Score is 6.8 and will be recalculated once reports from all participating labs are up to date. The CAR Score accounts for the incidence of new cases, how well current testing identifies these cases, and the rate of spread. An ideal CAR Score for Guam would be 5.0 and below.