With 40,000 test kits that arrived last week from South Korea, on top of the 20,000 kits that arrived earlier, the CNMI is getting ready to conduct community testing for coronavirus and Gov. Ralph DLG Torres said that the CNMI stands ready to help Guam if it needs assistance with testing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a 100% ready for anybody\u2026that needs to be tested,\u201d Torres said.<\/p>\n
With the shipment from South Korea increasing the Commonwealth Health Care Corp.\u2019s laboratory capacity to facilitate on-island testing, Torres said the mechanism for mass testing is now being readied.<\/p>\n
Along with the test kits and the machine for using them, a clinical pathologist from South Korea also arrived on Saipan to carry out equipment regulation and test quality assurance and quality control of the test kits.<\/p>\n
The governor also spoke of a new high peak in the CNMI that would fall in mid-May, \u201croughly May 20 that week,\u201d based on the latest trajectory by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The previous model placed the peak in mid-June.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we follow that model, that means we\u2019re not listening to social distancing, we\u2019re not following what is being advised. If we\u2019ll do our share, then we can plan that trajectory and have less casualty and fatality,\u201d Torres now says.<\/p>\n
Torres reiterated his appeal to the community to follow social distancing and hygiene protocols, so the CNMI could avoid that trajectory.<\/p>\n
Further, with more test kits now on island, the governor is extending an offer of aid to Guam Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero. \u201cWe\u2019re always here. We\u2019re always here to help,\u201d Torres said.<\/p>\n
The governor expressed appreciation to Leon Guerrero, and extended the CNMI\u2019s help to the territory, with its growing number of novel coronavirus cases.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur test kits here, it\u2019s going to take a few days before we start operation. I hope that we don\u2019t get to use it, not all of it, but my assistance to her [Leon Guerrero] is always there,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The governor said he has remains in contact and has been working with Leon Guerrero since the day of the outbreak. <\/p>\n
\u201cI want to thank Gov. Lou for everything that she\u2019s helped the CNMI, and I want the CNMI to know that all of our test kits, all of our specimens that we sent to Guam have been prioritized,\u201d he said. \u201cDespite all the challenges that they were going through, they made sure that the specimens that are sent [from] here are addressed and are given back to us in a very expeditious fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the past few months, Guam has been helping the CNMI with COVID-19 testing, with CHCC sending specimens to the Guam Public Health Laboratory for analysis. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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