WITH the new travel protocols taking effect today, Nov. 19, the governor’s authorized representative, Patrick Guerrero, provided the expenditures so far on the quarantine and isolation sites amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
As of June 30, 2021, the CNMI had spent a total of $22.1 million to implement quarantine measures, of which $13.4 million went to rooms, $2.3 million paid for meals, and $6.4 million was disbursed for other services.
The total of $22.1 million was paid with $17.5 million from the Federal and Emergency Management Agency and the remaining $4.6 million came from the Coronavirus Aid, Recovery, and Economic Security or CARES Act.
Of the FEMA funds, $8.8 million was spent on rooms, $2.3 million on meals, and $6.4 on other services, which included disinfection and support services.
Some $4.6 million in CARES Act funds was spent on rooms.
“We knew that we had to tap into either CARES Act funding or other funding sources, so at the end of the day, we may have used local funds to make payments,” Guerrero said. “We tied [the expenses] to federal funds so that there’s no added burden on the local funds that are not so readily available.”
He said by the end of this month, information for the past quarter should be “reconciled” to include up to the end of September 2021.
He said funds that were not reimbursable by FEMA were covered through the CARES Act funds.
Quarantine has been mandated since March 2020.
As of Tuesday, there were five quarantine sites: Kanoa Resort, the former Mariana Resort, Pacific Islands Club Saipan, Century Hotel, and Capital Hotel.
In a separate interview, CNMI Covid-19 Task Force Chairman Warren F. Villagomez said PIC Saipan, Century Hotel, and Capital Hotel will be used temporarily in case of an “overspill,” or a high influx of individuals who need to be quarantined.
“All these contracts are on a room utilized basis, so we pay for whatever rooms we use and whatever meals we provide,” Guerrero said.
“It’s common practice for federal programs not knowing when the end date is. Of course, every contract comes with a termination clause so we can terminate at any point with some ample notice to them that we’re going to vacate.
“We’ve just been doing 90-day renewals up until this date. For some of the smaller properties that we recently occupied, it was probably just for a week or two….”
With the new travel protocols, Guerrero said the CNMI will need fewer rooms for quarantine, given that some vaccinated travelers will not be required to quarantine.
“We probably will, at some point, in the next two to three weeks…most likely [use] just Kanoa and Mariana Resort. It would be great if it was just Mariana Resort. It’s government-owned property, but as we do anticipate community cases from time to time, Kanoa is always ready to be used as an isolation facility,” Guerrero said.
He said Kensington Hotel is not included in these expenditures as tourist accommodations are not an allowable expense by FEMA.
The hybrid quarantine site is being paid by the Marianas Visitors Authority.
