HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Guam hit a new high this year for daily Covid-19 cases, with 126 positive test results reported on Tuesday. The total was not far from the 130 cases confirmed in a single day during October 2020.
The 126 positive results were among the 1,214 tests conducted on Monday, the Joint Information Center reported Tuesday night. More people are getting tested as the more transmissible delta variant spreads in the community.
The Joint Information Center on Tuesday night, also reported the highest number of hospitalized patients this year at 27:
Guam Memorial Hospital had 13 patients and none were vaccinated against the virus that causes Covid-19.
Guam Regional Medical City had 12 patients and two were in the intensive care unit, one of whom is on a ventilator. Six of these patients are unvaccinated.
Naval Hospital Guam had two patients, with one in the ICU and on a ventilator. It’s unknown whether the patient was vaccinated.
Of the tests conducted on Aug. 23, 57 cases were identified through contact tracing. To date, there have been a total of 9,612 officially reported cases of Covid-19, with 145 deaths, 806 cases in active isolation and 8,661 not in active isolation.
Risk score doubled in a week
Guam’s Covid-19 Area Risk Score more than doubled in just a week, from 7.7 on Aug. 17 to 18.2 on Tuesday.
The increasing numbers almost mirror last year’s rise in Covid-19 cases. On Aug. 20, 2020, Guam had 105 new cases in one day. Those numbers continued to climb until the island reached a high of 130 cases on Oct. 20, 2020.
At the time, the island was waiting patiently for vaccines. And while Guam has vaccines today, the island and many places in the world have been hit by the delta variant, which has a higher transmission rate than the original SARS-CoV-2 strain.
Hospital capacity
As they did last year, Guam Memorial Hospital Authority officials are closely watching the increase in Guam’s Covid-19 cases as the rising number of people with SARS-CoV-2 continues to fill hospital beds.
“My greatest fear is that we will not be able to provide hospital care for our people. In the last week, we have increased by 175% of Covid admissions to the hospital,” Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said in an address late Monday night.
The governor made another push for residents to get vaccinated, reiterating that vaccination “prevents serious illness and shortens its duration, and it has been proven that it prevents hospital admissions.”
“Data tells us that 90% of our Covid-19 hospital admissions in 2021 are unvaccinated individuals,” she stated.
The governor said GMHA has only 18 ICU beds.
Hospital capacity has been a large concern in Guam — more so than in the mainland or in other countries that can send an overflow of patients to the next county or state, the governor has stated.
And during a recent press conference, Dr. Mike Cruz said he’s concerned that with more non-Covid-19 patients filling the hospital, GMH may not be able to handle much more of a rise in the number of patients who’ve caught the respiratory illness.
According to Guam Memorial Hospital Authority officials, those hospitalized at GMH with SARS-CoV-2 have one or more of the following comorbidities: hypertension, noninsulin-dependent diabetes, renal insufficiency, congestive heart failure and asthma.
GMHA teams are preparing in case more care units need to be mobilized, opened and shifted, said Mai Habib, GMHA spokesperson.
“We have entire areas with negative pressure rooms and more are in the final stages of being upgraded. A year and a half of Covid has made GMHA staff adaptable, flexible and extremely responsive to the needs of our people and treating those with acute symptoms due to Covid.”
She added that GMHA remains the island’s designated Covid-19 hospital and will “be ready should there be a further hospitalization surge.”
People form a long line at the Micronesia Mall for another day of free Covid-19 vaccinations on Tuesday. Another vaccination site will open at Guam Premier Outlets soon to ease the crowd.
