ANOTHER newly arrived traveler has been confirmed positive for Covid-19, bringing the CNMI’s total number of cases to 176 since March 28, 2020, the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. said Thursday.
CHCC spokesman Guillermo Cruz Lifoifoi said the individual was identified by travel screening and confirmed diagnosis through fifth-day testing on May 19, 2021. This case, he added, did not report any Covid-19 vaccination, and the individual has been moved to the designated isolation area for close monitoring.
The CHCC Communicable Disease Investigation/Inspection team, for its part, has already initiated contact tracing for the most immediate contacts of the new confirmed case, including passengers on the same flight, Lifoifoi said.
The CNMI Covid-19 dashboard indicates that of the Commonwealth’s total 176 cases, 140 were diagnosed upon arrival at the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport while 11 were diagnosed through community testing and 25 through contact tracing.
Of the cases diagnosed upon arrival at the airport, 84 were from the U.S., 36 from a U.S. territory and 20 from a foreign country.
Two deaths were reported in March and April 2020.
On Guam, the Joint Information Center said six new cases of Covid-19 were identified out of 302 tests performed on Wednesday, May 19. Two cases were identified through contact tracing.
To date, on Guam, there have been a total of 8,124 officially reported cases of Covid-19 with 139 deaths, 91 cases in active isolation, and 7,894 not in active isolation.
Meanwhile, the Governor’s Covid-19 Task Force and CHCC continue to encourage members of the community to practice the 3 Ws — wash your hands, wear your mask and watch your distance.
