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8 more test positive for COVID-19
Eight more arriving travelers have tested positive for COVID-19, adding to the CNMI’s 206 total confirmed cases of COVID since March 28, 2020.
All eight new cases were identified by travel screening and confirmed as positive through arrival testing and fifth-day testing on Aug. 4 and through arrival testing and fifth-day testing on Aug. 5, according to a press statement from the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. Last Friday.
Saipan Tribune separately confirmed with CHCC chief executive officer Esther Muña on Sunday that none of the eight were from South Korea, which has a “Travel Bubble” arrangement with the CNMI that allows Korean citizens to enter the CNMI as tourists.
The eight have been quarantined and are being actively monitored, and CHCC’s Communicable Disease Investigation/ Inspection team have already initiated contact tracing for the most immediate contacts of the eight individuals.
In related news, effective Sept. 30, First Hawaiian Bank, Bank of Hawaii, and Territorial Savings Bank will require its employees to show proof of full vaccination, or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. As part of the new policy, these financial institutions will cover the costs of weekly COVID-19 testing for unvaccinated employees.
Employees are able to submit requests for vaccine exemptions due to legitimate religious or medical reasons. Those granted exemptions will still need to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing and “other preventative requirements.” This was all learned from an Aug. 6 press release from Honolulu, Hawaii published on the behalf of BOH, FHB, and TSB.
