Traveler tests positive for COVID-19

A day after the CNMI logged its 60th case, one more traveler tested positive for the novel coronavirus yesterday, raising the CNMI’s total to 61.

According to the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., the traveler was identified through travel screening and was confirmed COVID-19 positive through testing upon arrival. CHCC brought the passenger to the designated government facility, which is the Kanoa Resort in Susupe. CHCC has already initiated contact tracing for passengers on the same flight, close family members, and friends.

Of the total 61 confirmed cases, 35 cases were identified through the port-of-entry screening, 10 cases were identified as a community contact, and 16 cases were identified as a known contact.

Additionally, of the 35 confirmed cases identified through travel screening, 24 cases originated from the U.S. mainland, three are from a foreign country, and seven are from U.S. territories.

In a statement that Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero issued related to the territory’s latest COVID-19 fatality, a 10-year-old boy, she said she can’t imagine the unfathomable grief the boy’s family must be going through.

She stated that the more the island loses to COVID-19, the more they get used to losing. However, said the loss of a young child is different. “Children are innocent and have a light that brightens the darkness in the world, and if a child wasn’t given the chance to share it, they are truly lost,” she said. “As a mother and grandmother, losing a child this way seem especially senseless.”

The 10-year-old boy’s death makes him the island’s youngest COVID-19-related death.

Leon Guerrero reminded the community that the COVID-19 virus doesn’t discriminate, won’t get lazy or complacent, and it will take what it can, which is why everyone needs to protect each other.

She said the 26 people who have died are not just numbers but people who leave behind family and friends. “They are our people,” she added.

Leon Guerrero stated that the people who lost their lives still had a lot of living to do, and after seven months of battling COVID-19, “it’s clear that it’s the fight of our lifetime.”

Leon Guerrero urged residents to stay home, practice social distancing, and wear a mask because, even if these are simple actions, they are still powerful enough to save people’s lives.