HOME quarantine is not recommended at this time, Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. Chief Executive Officer Esther L. Muna said on Friday.
According to contact tracing data, a majority of the individuals identified as positive for Covid-19 likely contracted the virus through their households.
Muna said individuals classified as persons under investigation, or PUIs, were quarantined at the government-designated quarantine site and were found to be positive for the virus.
“The numbers that you are seeing from the last couple of days… those are individuals already in quarantine. They have been identified as persons of interest. These are individuals that are considered high-risk,” she said.
“These are individuals that are staying in the hotel and waiting for their results. The tests have to be done at a specific time in order to determine whether or not they have the virus. Doing it earlier can basically generate a false negative… When it’s done [at that specific] time and determined that this individual is positive, that’s more people protected from this virus.
“I feel like this is necessary to protect others, especially considering that we still have a large number of individuals that are unvaccinated. I understand it’s inconvenient, but it does save lives, it does save further transmission out in the community… Obviously, we don’t have the resource to have every [home] monitored,” she said.
Muna said Covid-19 in the islands is now highly transmissible.
“Our message has always been the same. Preventive measures need to be utilized. Vaccinations, practicing 3 Ws, those are key. If you haven’t seen someone for quite a while and you’re gathering, put on a mask because you don’t know if they’re infected. At this point right now, it’s very highly transmissible, and we’re seeing that — and I want to really emphasize [this] — it’s in the households, within the households of possibly someone not vaccinated. We’re seeing it especially in gatherings,” she said.
Transmission has been significantly low in workplaces, Muna noted.
“We don’t see it in the workplace. Somebody who’s probably infected and is at work, but does not infect other people, especially if the preventive measures of masking are in place at the workplace and especially if more people are vaccinated in the workplace. This is one of the reasons why the next protocol is looking at if you’re going to have a large gathering, you need to start thinking about making sure that people are vaccinated and if they’re not vaccinated, then have them tested. That is, of course, still a choice because some people do not want to get vaccinated. We’re not the enemy here. We’re trying to help you out. We’re trying to help everyone here in the CNMI…. Be careful out there. Put on a mask because [Covid-19] is out there,” she said.
As of Monday, the CNMI had reported 1,104 positive Covid-19 cases and five deaths since March 28, 2020.
Nearly 90% of the eligible population in the CNMI has been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
There are eight active hospitalizations as a result of Covid-19.
The community is reminded to follow the 3Ws: wear a mask, wash your hands, and watch your distance.
Additional U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on how to protect yourself and others include: avoid crowds and poorly ventilated spaces; cover coughs and sneezes; clean and disinfect high touch surfaces daily; be alert for symptoms daily; and register to get tested for Covid-19 at https://covidtesting.chcc.health
CHCC highly encourages unvaccinated individuals to get vaccinated or get a booster shot against Covid-19 to help prevent severe illness, hospitalization or death.
Data from small clinical trials show that vaccine effectiveness against Covid-19 infection is waning after the primary series, but protection remains high against severe disease and hospitalization.
If you are experiencing Covid-19 symptoms, see your health care provider right away, or contact the CHCC Tele-Triage hotline at (670) 233-2067. The hotline runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
