REGARDING the still raging Covid-19 pandemic, although the CNMI is one of the safest places in the world right now, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres on Friday said the community is not complacent and remains on its toes.
“For the whole community, we’re always worried, and I think that’s what keeps us on our toes because we’re not complacent and we understand that [with] every [inbound] flight, there’s a possibility of a [community] spread if we don’t take care of [the virus at] the border,” he said.
The governor said this is why he continues to praise the CNMI’s first responders.
“They are always on top of every flight, every passenger, and they don’t take things for granted. They treat every person the same. You go through the protocols. So, my concern? I’m concerned about the continued positive cases, but I am comfortable and have every confidence [in] our first responders and the protocols that we have because we continue to address the same concerns every flight, and we don’t hesitate to make changes to our quarantine rules or directives if we need to,” he added.
Torres said he, along with CNMI Covid-19 Task Force Chairman Warren Villagomez and Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. Chief Executive Officer Esther L. Muna, continue to discuss how to further strengthen CNMI quarantine protocols.
Moreover, he said, they also discuss any update regarding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Covid-19 recommendations.
“We take those seriously. And again, I want to go back to saying that we do what we need to do to safeguard every individual here in the CNMI. It’s not about convenience. We’re always concerned about community spread that’s why we’re always on our toes to make sure that we cover our frontline, which is our airport,” he said.
As of Monday, the CNMI had reported 265 positive Covid-19 cases, two deaths, and five hospitalizations since March 28, 2020.
There are no hospitalizations.
As of Wednesday, 81.5% of the eligible CNMI population, or 34,527 individuals, had been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
To view the Covid-19 vaccination rate in the CNMI, visit www.vaccinatecnmi.com
To view the new CNMI Covid-19 dashboard, visit https://chcc.datadriven.health/covid19
