THE Commonwealth government and the entire community did their best in preventing the spread of Covid-19 in the CNMI, the Torres-Palacios administration said.
The global pandemic’s “impacts on our economy have been profound and unprecedented,” the administration said. “We are contending with a health crisis and an economic crisis of massive scale, but in the face of this threat, strong partnership between our public health officials and our private sector will continue to keep our people safe.”
In an email interview, Press Secretary Kevin Bautista shared how the administration dealt with the unprecedented virus outbreak and the economic crisis it created.
“[The year] 2020 was shaping up to be a promising year for the CNMI,” he said.
“Under Gov. Ralph DLG Torres and Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, the administration had significant plans to expand CNMI’s tourism industry by reopening our Japanese market through Skymark Airlines, the first Japan-based airline to provide direct flights between Tokyo and Saipan.
“Marketing was strong, and interest from both Japanese tourists and our local residents was mutual. Our administration was also diversifying the CNMI economy through the formal creation of our cannabis industry for commercial, recreational, and medicinal purposes,” Bautista said.
However, he added, “beyond anyone’s control, the Covid-19 pandemic significantly affected our plans for a bounce-back year after this continual recovery from Super Typhoon Yutu.”
“With Covid-19,” Bautista said, “our mindset was simple: ‘One case in the CNMI is one case too many.’ Governor Torres knew that we are a community that is vulnerable to the deadly effects of Covid-19, and if we weren’t proactive or deliberate with our approach, our already fragile island healthcare system would have been overwhelmed. The CNMI began monitoring our tourism coming in from China, where the disease first started.”
On Jan. 20, 2020 or 20 days after Covid-19 was first recognized, Bautista said the CNMI was the first U.S. state or territory to locally take proactive action and preventative measures against the coronavirus and any other illnesses.
“We began health screening passengers to ensure that no tourist with Covid-19 entered the CNMI. In collaboration with the Commonwealth Ports Authority, Customs, and Customs and Border Protection, the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. set up quarantine and isolation units at the airport to treat sick or suspected passengers upon entering our islands,” he said.
The Governor’s Covid-19 Task Force was formed in March, and work intensified after the CNMI’s first cases were identified on March 28, 2020.
Bautista said the administration began its public information campaign, “Stay at Home, Stop the Spread,” as well as being innovative with its emergency response by acquiring 60,000 Covid-19 test kits from South Korea.
“Early testing saved our community, because we were able to identify how widespread the virus was and then plan out mitigation efforts to isolate and contain to prevent additional spread,” he said.
In May and June, the CNMI slowly reopened its economy and the community again.
“Preparing for possible surges in cases with the reopening, the administration ramped up public information campaign by telling our community to mask up, wash their hands, and watch their distance. New quarantine procedures were implemented for travelers coming to the CNMI,” Bautista said.
“The goal for us was to be proactive, listen to the science and the health experts, and communicate transparently with our people.
“As the governor puts it, ‘The funds we have spent on our Covid-19 response — these are pennies to the dollars that translate to all the lives we have saved in our island community.’”
Through the leadership of the governor, CHCC Chief Executive Officer Esther Muna, Governor’s Covid-19 Task Force Chairman Warren Villagomez, the doctors and nurses, and the task force first responders, the CNMI “successfully avoided long-term damage to our economy and prevented significant loss of life,” Bautista said.
In the CNMI as of Sunday, there had been 124 cases of Covid-19 since March 28, 2020 and four are currently in isolation.
There had been two deaths. The first was reported on March 30 and the second on April 7.
Of the 124 cases, 98 were identified through travel screening, 10 through community screening, and 16 were known contacts.
On neighboring Guam as of Saturday, there had been a total of 7,326 officially reported cases of Covid-19 with 123 deaths, 156 cases in active isolation and 7,047 not in active isolation.
