THE people and the government of the Commonwealth have done everything they could to combat Covid-19, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres said at the CNMI Safe Travel Summit on Tuesday.
In his remarks, the governor provided a timeline of the CNMI’s Covid-19 response.
In December 2019, the CNMI closely monitored its Asian tourism market after the virus was first reported in Wuhan, China.
On Jan. 20, 2020, or 20 days after Covid-19 was first recognized, the CNMI was the first U.S. state or territory to locally take proactive action on preventative measures against the coronavirus and any other illnesses, the governor said.
“We began health screening passengers to ensure that no tourists with Covid-19 enter the CNMI during this unpredictable time. In collaboration with [the Commonwealth Ports Authority] and U.S. [Customs and Border Patrol], our public health officials set up quarantine and isolation measures at the airport to treat sick or expected passengers upon entering our islands,” Torres said.
On Feb. 20, 2020, the CNMI Covid-19 Task Force was formed, bringing together doctors, nurses, first responders to combat Covid-19.
On March 15, 2020, Guam confirmed its first three cases of Covid-19.
The very next day, the CNMI shut down government offices and suspended all in-person classes.
“We were criticized, but we knew we had to safeguard our community,” the governor said. “We began our public information campaign, ‘Stay Home. Stop the Spread.’ to stop our people from unnecessary travel and to remain socially distant. Another slogan that we used was ‘6 feet apart or 6 feet under’ to truly emphasize the importance of this work.”
He added, “The spread of misinformation is as dangerous as the virus itself, so we made sure that public information was tight, accurate, and wide-reaching so that everyone was readily informed.”
On March 28, 2020, the CNMI announced its first two Covid-19 cases.
“We took our response plan to the next level immediately, ramping up public information, supplying our first responders with more [personal protective equipment], and getting resources for our medical workers. A few days later, we announced our first Covid-19 death. A week later, we announced our second death. And about a month ago, we had our third death. It is never easy to hear that we lost members of our community, and each death was a reminder of how important our work was,” Torres said.
In April 2020, the CNMI acquired 60,000 SolGent test kits from South Korea and began community-based testing.
“Proactive early testing saved our community because we were able to identify how widespread the spread was and then planned out mitigation efforts to isolate and contain to prevent additional spread,” the governor said.
In May and June 2020, the CNMI slowly reopened its economy and community.
“Preparing for possible surges in cases with the reopening, we ramped up our public information campaign, but telling our community to mask up, wash their hands, and watch their distance,” Torres said.
In July and August 2020, the CNMI implemented its first quarantine procedures for inbound travelers.
“It was controversial but beneficial. We were criticized again, but it did not stop us from doing what we [could] to safeguard our community,” the governor said.
In October 2020, the CNMI officially unveiled the first fully equipped alternate care site in the Pacific to prepare for possible surges as it continued to move into the next phase of recovery, which was to reopen its tourism industry.
In December 2020, the CNMI began the vaccination of its people.
“I’m proud to announce that through the hard work of [Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation Chief Executive Officer] Esther Muna, Covid-19 Task Force Chairman Warren Villagomez, our CHCC, our task force, our doctors, our nurses, our first responders, the people in this room, and our community, we have successfully vaccinated 84.3% of our eligible population as of today. That’s a great success,” the governor said.
He said he was providing this timeline so that the CNMI community can see that they have done everything they could to combat Covid-19.
“What do we do to continue to fight this coronavirus? One thing that’s left is for all of us to continue to push for our students, our kids to get vaccinated, everyone that’s eligible…. I’m happy to see that there’s a high number of vaccinations happening in the last couple of weeks,” the governor said.
“Throughout this pandemic, I have seen the power of our community coming together to face this challenge. I have seen our first responders, our doctors, nurses, business leaders, teachers, public administrators, [and] government employees stepping up to this unprecedented time. Although it’s kept us apart, I believe that our region and our community and our country will emerge from this even stronger than before.
“A lot of personal sacrifices are made by first responders and their families. I know I have to make the same sacrifices during the early days of the pandemic, but at the end of the day, the work that we do is to keep everyone in the Marianas, regardless of their background, safe from this virus.
“Throughout the course of this response, cooperation is our story. Because of cooperation and collaboration, and despite the recent community transmission, we can confidently say that we have successfully made the CNMI one of the safest places in the world from Covid-19. We were proactive, and just when we needed to, listened to the science and health experts, and communicated transparently with our people.”
He noted that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had initially projected that the CNMI would have between 6,000 and 8,000 positive Covid-19 cases and up to 500 deaths by June 2020 if it did not put any plans or mitigation measures in place.
“Now, just imagine that, between 6,000 and 8,000 cases and up to 500 deaths — deaths that we have no control over: mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, neighbors, friends and whatnot… Like [what] we all have seen around the world, the hearts of our community will have to bear the impossible weight of loss,” Torres said.
He said, “The funds we have spent on our Covid-19 response are pennies to the dollars that translate to all the lives we have saved…. Now again, picture this, between 6,000 and 8,000 Covid cases and up to 500 deaths. Today, we are barely at 400 cases and three deaths [since March 2020].”
The governor added, “The impact on our economy has been profound and unprecedented. We are coping with a health crisis and an economic crisis of mass scale…. We are where we are today, reopening our tourism industry in line with President Biden’s proclamation, while remaining cautious as we prioritize the health and safety of our community. This will be the new norm of our industry, one that will change the way we operate with new requirements aimed at making our residents safe, [bringing] back jobs and truly returning to normalcy.”
In the CNMI, he said, “one case…is one case too many. Given our high population of manamko’ and people with preexisting conditions, we knew that we were very vulnerable to Covid-19 and if we weren’t proactive, our already fragile healthcare system would have been overwhelmed immediately. Collaboration was at the heart of all our work. We collaborated early with our long-standing federal partners in our region, FEMA, [the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services], the [Department of Defense], and the White House, in responding to this deadly disease. Then we moved to the work of vaccinating our eligible population.”
The governor added, “I want to sincerely thank all of you, all the players that played a pivotal role in this entire Covid-19 pandemic. As we all know, the pandemic has really made these past two years an unprecedented challenge for the CNMI and our nation and across the world. We all have lived through one of the significant moments in our history.”
Also attending the summit, which was held at Kensington Hotel, were various representatives of all three branches of the government, the private sector, and the community.
Gov. Ralph DLG Torres delivers his remarks during the CNMI Safe Travel Summit on Tuesday at Kensington Hotel.
