CNMI Covid-19 Task Force Chairman Warren Villagomez on Sunday said three hotels will be used temporarily to quarantine "overflow" inbound travelers. These are Century Hotel and Capital Hotel, both located in Garapan, and the Pacific Islands Club in San Antonio.
Villagomez noted that Shirley’s Café at Century Hotel is still open to the public.
“Century Hotel is an isolation containment area, so there’s [neither] engagement nor movement from the folks that are being quarantined...we have task force personnel that are present as well as law enforcement, so [there is] very minimal movement and basically everything is being controlled and kept sterile,” he said.
Villagomez said there was a need to designate temporary facilities due to the increase in the number of persons under investigation, or PUIs, as well as to ensure that contact tracing needs are accommodated at Kanoa Resort and the former Mariana Resort, which are the main quarantine facilities.
He said there is also a need to prepare for any potential impact of the Biden administration’s recent decision to ease travel restrictions for vaccinated travelers, Villagomez added.
“So we’re just being proactive, but these [additional facilities] are not permanent. These are for temporary use. We should be shifting back to normal numbers [soon],” he said.
Regarding the South Korea-CNMI travel bubble inbound flights, the task force chairman said that a team is in place through the World Travel and Tourism Council. The council coordinates all the safety aspects to make sure that every hotel that will be reopening or has already reopened meets the standards.
“We’re seeing more hotels and more rooms. With President [Joseph] Biden’s directive, there’s more reassurance for the industry to reopen,” he added.
