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CNMI remains under State of Emergency
Torres
The CNMI remains under a state of emergency following Gov. Ralph DLG Torres’ renewal of the declaration of a state of public health emergency and continued declaration of a state of significant emergency Wednesday night.
“The emergency declarations are necessary to respond, quarantine and ensure the prevention of or containment of COVID-19 in the CNMI,” he said in his renewal.
Torres sustained the declaration, under Executive Order 2020-06, stating that COVID-19 continues to pose a significant and imminent threat of harm to the CNMI community, especially with the two cases identified by the COVID-19 Task Force and the Commonwealth Health Care Corp. last March 28.
To date, 13 individuals had been confirmed positive with COVID-19 on Saipan, nine of whom recovered and are now back in their homes while being closely monitored, two of whom have died.
“COVID-19 is a highly contagious disease that can lead to serious illness and death, especially for the elderly and people who have severe underlying medical conditions. There is no confirmed treatment for COVID-19 other than quarantine, isolation and containment,” Torres stated in the executive order. “The potential pandemic impact of COVID-19 cannot be understated. Action is necessary to protect the health and safety of our children, our senior citizens, businesses, and all other CNMI residents and visitors.”
The order is to remain in effect for 30 days, along with all the directives and memoranda previously issued by the governor to ensure an effective response, quarantine, and preventive containment measures of the COVID-19 threat in the CNMI.
This includes the enhanced social distancing directive intended to limit public gatherings of people, and to prevent potential public exposure of residents, to prevent the spread of the virus on island.
The governor first declared the CNMI under a state of significant emergency on Jan. 29, 2020.
