‘No sign of community transmission’

The CNMI’s number of positive cases jumped by four last Dec. 24 to 122, but Esther Muña, chief executive officer of the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., assured that there are no signs of community transmissions for now.

The four new cases in the CNMI were identified through travel screening and got their diagnosis confirmed either through testing upon arrival or on the fifth day after their arrival. CHCC assured that these four have been safely in quarantine and were moved to the isolation area for close monitoring. CHCC has already initiated contact tracing for the most immediate contacts of the newly confirmed cases, including passengers on the same flight.

Responding to questions about community transmission of the virus in the wake of reports that a CHCC personnel had tested positive for the virus, Muña stated in a radio briefing last week that the tools the CNMI possess have been working for many months now and that the community needs to continue to be united in the fight against COVID-19. She also cautioned against stigmatizing people who are infected with the virus.

“I saw that his picture was passed around [on social media]. He’s a member of society, he’s a member of this community, and we need to be mindful that he was just doing his job. It was not his fault that he got infected. We need to offer him our prayers and support and pray that he recovers,” said Muña.

Muña stated that she also appreciates Far East Trading Co. Safehouse for addressing the speculations that the CHCC personnel was at their bar while he was supposed to be in quarantine.

“In this particular case, he did a job that not everybody wants to do [which is] to get on a plane and transport patients and getting to high surge areas, but he did it [and] he did it for the CNMI,” said Muña. She hopes the CNMI can come together to acknowledge that he’s a “health care hero” and he’s no different than anyone in the CNMI.

CHCC also shut down speculations that they ran out of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines last Dec. 25. They said this rumor is false and disseminated this information on CHCC’s social media pages.

Additionally, CHCC is asking for the public’s cooperation as they assist those who are at a higher risk of contracting and/or suffering from serious illnesses due to COVID-19 exposure.

Since the vaccine comes in two doses, CHCC strongly recommends that people be present for their second vaccination, or else they will lose their priority placement if their second dose is missed. Also, if people who got their first shot are thinking of traveling, CHCC recommends making plans that ensure that they will still receive their second dose.

Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) received his first COVID-19 vaccination shot last Dec. 26. “It was such a joy to see many of our elders who, like me, are 65 years and older get vaccinated themselves,” said Sablan in a Facebook post.

Sablan stated that the vaccine is a good tool to “grow and attain herd immunity” in the CNMI. Sablan is confident that the vaccine will “help us begin to see our lives return to some sort of normalcy.”