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CNMI COVID-19 total now 252
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Posted on Sep 14 2021
One more incoming traveler has tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the CNMI’s total to 252.
The individual was identified by travel screening and was confirmed positive through arrival testing on Sunday, Sept. 12, according to a Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. announcement yesterday.
The individual has been quarantined and is being monitored, and CHCC’s Communicable Disease Investigation/ Inspection team has initiated contact tracing for those who were in most immediate contact with the individual. CHCC also reported yesterday that there are currently no active hospitalizations due to COVID-19.
In related news, responding to an inquiry about how CHCC determines the total number of individuals eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines, a CHCC representative said yesterday that multiple sources are used, because the 2020 Census data for the CNMI is not completely available at this time.
Currently, the only available 2020 Census data for the CNMI is last year’s congressional districts and overall island numbers, but these numbers are not categorized by age. To make accurate COVID-19 vaccination projections, CHCC needs these numbers categorized from the number of individuals aged 12 and older, 12 to 18 years old, 18 and older, and so on.
To create these categories, CHCC uses the 2021 Census International Database and extrapolations of 2010 Census numbers, because the 2010 data featured age breakdowns for each island and the CNMI as a whole. “Extrapolation” is a term in statistics where future numbers are predicted using past numbers, assuming that existing trends in past data will continue.
The U.S. Census Bureau’s section on the CNMI in its International Database can be found at https://www.census.gov/data-tools/demo/idb/#/country?YR_ANIM=2021&COUNTRY_YR_ANIM=2021&FIPS_SINGLE=CQ.
