With the CNMI seeing most of its new positive COVID-19 cases among incoming travelers, Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. CEO Esther Mu\u00f1a said this underscores the Centers for Disease and Control\u2019s message that people \u201cshould not be doing non-essential travel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn regards to non-essential travel, that\u2019s what the message is with CDC that, at this point right now with the pandemic, people really should not be having non-essential travel,\u201d said Mu\u00f1a at a recent radio news briefing.<\/p>\n
At the same time, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres said at the same radio news briefing that the CDC classified the CNMI as a \u201chigh-risk\u201d area mainly because it falls under a certain population demographic. Still, Torres said the CNMI\u2019s effort needs to be appreciated and highlighted \u201cbecause it doesn\u2019t matter about the population threshold that they have.\u201d <\/p>\n
He added that even if CDC has marked the CNMI as a \u201chigh-risk area,\u201d there are other listings that says the CNMI is \u201cvery safe\u201d and \u201cwe are a low-risk community.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to address and acknowledge all the hard work of our first responders, the hospital, the [COVID-19] task force, [and] our community. Our community has been tremendously just awesome and working together, sacrificing together, prioritizing our public health,\u201d said Torres. \u201cI think that all of us should give that appreciation, as a whole CNMI, that continue to make CNMI a very safe place, despite what the recent report came out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mu\u00f1a echoed Torres, saying that there are other data generating teams that have said that the CNMI has the lowest risk. \u201cIt depends on which organization issues the determination. However, with CDC, non-essential travel is the message right now\u2026and non-essential travel should really be minimized,\u201d said Mu\u00f1a.<\/p>\n
She said the CDC will be attending a meeting with the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands later this week to explain other factors that they\u2019re looking into as to how to determine what a high-risk area is, and if there is a need to change it. She stated that there will be a global health division of CDC that will be participating in that meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cCDC officials that are working with U.S. API have praised the CNMI with everyone else, that the U.S. APIs are one of the safest places. So to put us in \u2018high-risk\u2019 is really, you know, even in their opinion, it doesn\u2019t seem right,\u201d said Mu\u00f1a.<\/p>\n
Mu\u00f1a does have mixed feelings about the meeting with U.S. API, with the CNMI seeing more new positive cases with arrivals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe issue here is that we are seeing arrivals of positive cases and that is a concern, [but] as long as we continue to control our borders, we can be comfortable with that and prevent the spread here in the CNMI,\u201d said Mu\u00f1a.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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