5 arrivals test positive

Five more individuals have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the CNMI’s total to 263. In Guam, five more persons died of COVID-19-related complications, bringing to 179 the island’s death toll from COVID-19.

The Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. reported Sunday that the five individuals were identified by travel screening and confirmed positive through fifth-day testing on Sept. 17 and 18, and through arrival testing on Sept. 18. The individuals have been quarantined and are being monitored, and CHCC said its Communicable Disease Investigation/ Inspection team has already initiated contact tracing for those who were in closest contact with the five individuals. CHCC also reported that there are currently no active hospitalizations due to COVID-19.

In Guam, its Joint Information Center reported over the weekend the island’s five most recent COVID-19-related deaths. The JIC also reported that there are currently 79 individuals hospitalized due to COVID-19. Of the 79, 41 are unvaccinated, 12 have unknown vaccination status, and one is ineligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

Guam’s 175th COVID-19-related death was a partially vaccinated 63-year-old female with underlying health concerns. She was pronounced dead on arrival in the U.S. Naval Hospital Guam on Sept.13.

The 176th COVID-19-related death was a 59-year-old male with no known vaccination status and with underlying health concerns. He tested positive for COVID-19 on Sept. 15, and was pronounced dead on arrival at the USNH on Sept. 15.

The 177th COVID-19-related death was an unvaccinated 71-year-old female with no known underlying health concerns. She was a known positive case, and was pronounced dead at the Guam Regional Medical City on Sept. 16.

The 178th COVID-19-related death was an unvaccinated 65-year-old male with underlying health concerns. He tested positive for COVID-19 on Sept. 17, and was pronounced dead on arrival at GRMC that same day.

The 179th COVID-19-related death was an unvaccinated 58-year-old female with underlying health concerns. She tested positive for COVID-19 on Sept. 17, and was pronounced dead on arrival at GRMC that day.

Guam Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero on Friday offered her condolences to the five, and said that the many men and women on Guam who lost their lives to COVID-19 are “far more than stats.”

“The men and women who we keep in our thoughts and prayers tonight are far more than stats—they embody pleasant memories, sources of light, wisdom and love for families whose hearts are now in a place of torment. Lives may continue to be lost at disturbing rates, with each loss regrettably offering more cautionary tales about a very real, very dangerous virus that can be controlled when we heed the warning signs,” she said.

Last Thursday, Guam also recorded three additional COVID-related fatalities.

The 172nd COVID-19-related fatality occurred at the Guam Memorial Hospital on Sept. 15, 2021. The patient was a 69-year-old male, unvaccinated, with underlying health conditions. 

The 173rd COVID-19-related fatality was pronounced dead on arrival also at GMH. The patient was a 74-year-old male, unvaccinated, with unknown comorbidities.

The 174th COVID-19-related fatality was pronounced dead on arrival at GMH. The patient was a 90-year-old female with unknown comorbidities and unknown vaccination status. 

“These unsettling times continue to impact our lives, and more of us are grieving tonight,” said Leon Guerrero. “[We] join the island in prayer, for safe passage through the difficulty before us all, and for the strength and the resolve to remain ever vigilant in our efforts to protect everyone we can.”