HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The number of new Covid-19 cases dropped slightly, falling just short of the three-digits that were common this past week, but those numbers can change when final results are reported Monday.
The Department of Public Health and Social Services reported a preliminary count of 94 new cases of Covid-19 from 748 specimens analyzed Jan. 7, according to the Joint Information Center. That’s a 12.6% positivity rate – another improvement over the 15% and 16% score over the last several days. This past week new cases were reported the triple digit range:
Tuesday: 210
Wednesday: 189
Thursday: 263
Friday: 243
Additional results for tests conducted on Jan. 7 are pending analysis and submission from other clinics and will be reported on Monday, the JIC stated.
Guam now has 274 deaths linked to Covid-19. There are 1,321 cases in active isolation.
The Covid-19 Area Risk, or CAR, Score is 89.7. The ideal long-term goal is to sustain a CAR Score of 2.5 or less.
As the island begins what officials believe to be another surge, this one fueled by the highly contagious Omicron, Dr. Nathaniel Berg, chairman of the governor’s Physicians Advisory Group, continues to urge residents — particularly those with comorbidities that make them vulnerable to Covid-19 — to get vaccinated or a booster shot.
As of Saturday, there were 11 people hospitalized who have been confirmed to have Covid-19. One person was listed as being in the intensive care unit, according to the JIC.
Berg said while it’s good that hospitalization numbers remain low, residents should remain vigilant.
He noted that the more underlying illnesses people have, the more vulnerable they are to infection and serious illness if they catch Covid-19. He said watching other communities react to Omicron helped shape their messaging in pushing people with more comorbidities to get vaccinated or boosted.
“We are optimistic that a large number of people who have multiple comorbid conditions have been fully protected by getting their booster shots,” he said.
“And we hope we’re right in that people did follow our advice and did get fully protected, which is why we’re not seeing such a rapid rise in hospitalizations and ICU admissions.”
Testing at Tiyan to require appointments
The JIC also reported that community Covid-19 testing at the old carnival grounds in Tiyan, Barrigada will transition to an appointment-based system beginning Jan. 10.
“Scheduling of appointments for Covid-19 testing will allow for more efficient processing and reduce long lines and wait times,” the JIC stated. “Unscheduled drive-ups will be accepted on a limited basis. Beginning Monday, hours of operation will also be extended to accommodate more patients.”
Residents can schedule an appointment at tinyurl.com/covidstopswithme
How do we know its Omicron?
While Dr. Berg, the governor and other officials have said Omicron is in Guam, it hasn’t been confirmed by recent genome tests — the most recent results from samples collected in mid-December showed the Delta but no Omicron variant.
The last surge started to slow in November and Guam’s daily case numbers were in the single digits by December. The recent spike followed the Christmas holiday season, which brought with it much traveling and family gatherings.
“Prior to a few days ago, we received a very few number of infected people,” he said.
The increasing numbers, he says, points to a new variant new to the population.
“And there are no other variants out there right now,” he said.
“We believe that Alpha is gone, Delta is in very small numbers and when you see this massive upslope, very fast increase in numbers, we know it must be due to Omicron.”
Genome testing
Berg also noted that Guam is preparing to do its own genome testing, saying the machine has been ordered and should be arriving soon. Federal funds helped procure the machine
Once it’s in place, he said, Guam will have the advantage of knowing what variants are infecting people, which will help shape public health guidance.
“For each of the variants, we are educated and informed of their characteristics as data comes out. And it allows us to be ready for each variant,” Berg said. “For example we knew Delta does happen to effect kids more than Alpha variant…so we ramped up efforts to vaccinate kids particularly those who have comorbid conditions.”
Similarly, he said Omicron spreads faster than other variants and doesn’t make people as ill, but still can cause harsher symptoms for those with other illnesses.
Joslyn Chinel, from Agana Heights, completes screening paperwork with Guam National Guard members Spc. Samuel Figir and Spc. Francine Daga during a drive-thru Covid-19 testing Monday at Tiyan.
