HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Guam lost eight people this weekend and another life earlier this month, raising the island’s death toll related to the Covid-19 pandemic to 168, according to the government of Guam.
This is the single highest death toll for Guam in a weekend since the pandemic began in March last year.
This total is in addition to the four Guam residents who died on Sept. 8 and whose deaths were linked to Covid-19.
The high death toll has prompted Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero to urge island residents to consider getting vaccinated against Covid-19.
She ruled out an islandwide lockdown at this point and said current restrictions, such as a ban on the unvaccinated from dining in at restaurants, are working.
Nearly 83% of Guam residents who are age-eligible to get vaccinated have been immunized against Covid-19.
The vaccination will keep people from getting severely sick or from dying, according to officials. Vaccination will also make patients recover quickly, officials said.
In addition to the three simple steps to fight Covid-19 — wearing masks properly, hand-washing and keeping a safe distance — health officials at a press conference Monday asked residents to closely monitor family members who have difficulty breathing.
Officials urged people to get medical care once their oxygen level falls below 95%. Households might want to get a pulse oximeter that measures the oxygen level, health officials said.
Several recent deaths related to Covid-19 were dead on arrival at hospitals, said Dr. Joleen Aguon.
She said patients experiencing worsening fatigue and difficulty breathing should get medical help if their oxygen level falls below 95.
The Guam National Guard assembled a BLU-MED medical tent to accommodate an overflow of Covid-19 patients at the Guam Memorial hospital emergency room entrance on Sept. 1 in Tamuning.
