US Army medical professional tests positive

An asymptomatic U.S. Army medical professional who entered the CNMI last April 1 to help the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. with its vaccination drive tested positive for COVID-19 last April 6.

The Joint Region Marianas Public Affairs Office said the Army medical professional, who entered the CNMI on April 1, was confirmed positive for COVID-19 last April 6, during the mandatory testing on the person’s fifth day in the CNMI.

According to the JRM news release, the soldier was asymptomatic and had already been fully vaccinated for COVID-19. In fact, the soldier tested negative for COVID-19 before departing Hawaii.

The JRM statement said the soldier was brought to an isolation facility—the Kanoa Resort in Susupe—after testing positive for COVID-19. No additional cases were identified from the remaining 11 U.S. Army medical team. “However, out of an abundance of caution, the team is scheduled to depart [the] CNMI and is in the process of being re-assigned for potential mission support to Guam,” the JRM statement added.

The soldier who tested positive for COVID-19 will depart CNMI upon completion of the required isolation period and release by CHCC.

CHCC chief executive officer Esther Muña confirmed in a text message that the soldier was an approved Critical Essential Traveler with mandatory active surveillance and quarantine.

Separately, according to a Defense Visual Information Distribution Service’s article, the medical team, composed of a medical officer and combat medic specialists, started administering the COVID-19 vaccine doses on Saipan last April 3.

JRM public affairs officer lieutenant commander Rick Moore also confirmed in an email that the soldier came to Saipan to administer COVID-19 vaccines.

For her part, Muña said that, as with any detected case, contact tracing starts immediately and the individual and contacts are immediately moved to the designated isolation area for monitoring, and all of the case’s contacts were found to be negative and have been released.

CHCC earlier reported that an individual tested positive on the fifth day testing last April 6 that brought the CNMI’s positive cases total to 160. Muña confirmed last night that the soldier was the 160th case and that all at-risk people who came in contact with this case all came back negative.