3 more COVID-19 deaths in Guam

Guam’s Joint Information Center reported three more COVID-19-related deaths yesterday, bring the island territory’s death toll to 109.

Guam’s 109th COVID-19-related fatality occurred at the Guam Memorial Hospital at approximately 11:02am. The patient was a 65-year-old male with underlying conditions that were further compounded by COVID-19. He was admitted to GMH on Oct. 22, 2020, and was a known positive case. 

In a message quoted in the JIC advisory, Guam Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said, “There is no pain like losing a loved one. To his family and friends, please accept our condolences and sympathies.”

Earlier, the JIC reported two more COVID-19-related deaths, while 62 prisoners in Guam have tested positive.

Guam’s 108th COVID-19-related fatality happened at the U.S. Naval Hospital at approximately 6:50pm last Tuesday. The patient was a 48-year-old male with underlying conditions that were further compounded by COVID-19. According to JIC, he tested positive last Nov. 21, and was admitted to USNH last Nov. 24.

Guam’s 107th COVID-19-related fatality occurred at the GMH at approximately 12:15am, last Tuesday. According to JIC, the patient was a 55-year-old female with underlying conditions that were further compounded by COVID-19. She was admitted to GMH on Nov.8, and tested positive upon admission.

“As we lose more and more of our neighbors to COVID-19, we cannot become numb to the news,” said Leon-Guerrero. “These people are more than numbers—they were friends, co-workers, siblings, parents, children. They are more than the illness they succumbed to. So it is our duty, our responsibility to keep each other safe. Our vigilance is the only vaccine we have.”

Leon Guerrero urged everyone to be on the alert, stand firm, and be strong. The only light at the end of their tunnel, she said, is the constant vigilance that they have.

JIC earlier reported that Guam’s Department of Corrections confirmed that there are an additional 62 positive cases of COVID-19 among its prisoner population. As of Nov. 25, there have been a total of 164 confirmed cases among the prisoner population and that 24 out of the 164 have “recovered.”

“DOC is working with Guam Homeland Security/Office of Civil Defense and the Department of Public Works to erect three military-grade tents to provide additional isolation facilities,” said JIC. DOC continues to work with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Public Health and Social Services to help stop the spread of the virus in both facilities. Lockdown status remains in effect.

Meanwhile, according to a Pacific News Center report, Guam Superior Court Judge Elyze Iriarte has ordered that the DPHSS cannot quarantine passengers who come from the CNMI.

The PNC story quotes Iriarte as saying that, as long as there is no COVID-19 community spread in the CNMI, DPHSS cannot quarantine passengers coming from the CNMI but can continue to require that they undergo a 14-day home quarantine.