ASKED whether the Torres-Palacios administration will request that United Airlines reduce the number of its Guam-Saipan flights as the CNMI did last year, press secretary Kevin Bautista said the Federal Aviation Administration is the only agency with the power to reduce flights.
He noted that when Governor Ralph DLG Torres made a request such as this, it took some convincing.
“But with everything opening up now, I doubt the airlines will do that [again] or the FAA,” Bautista said.
He added, however, that this is shaping up to be an evolving situation.
On Wednesday, yet another newly arrived traveler was confirmed positive for Covid-19, marking the CNMI’s 243rd case since March 28, 2020.
The traveler was identified through travel screening and was confirmed to be positive for coronavirus through fifth-day testing.
The individual has been quarantined and is being actively monitored.
The Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. said its Communicable Disease Investigation/Inspection team has initiated contact tracing for contacts with the highest risk of exposure.
As of Wednesday, one of two Covid-19 patients who were recently hospitalized remained under active hospitalization.
Of the total positive Covid-19 cases in the CNMI, 207 were identified through travel screening, with 123 originating from the U.S. mainland, 52 from a U.S. territory, and 32 from a foreign country.
The remaining 36 positive cases were identified through community screening with 11 identified through community-based testing or at CHCC and 25 through contact tracing.
As of Thursday, 78.7% of the eligible CNMI population, or 33,348 people, had been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
An additional 562 individuals need to be fully vaccinated in order for the CNMI to reach its 80% herd immunity goal.
