{"id":342054,"date":"2021-04-13T06:05:12","date_gmt":"2021-04-12T20:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=342054"},"modified":"2021-04-13T06:05:12","modified_gmt":"2021-04-12T20:05:12","slug":"muna-supports-reopening-the-cnmi-in-mid-june","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/muna-supports-reopening-the-cnmi-in-mid-june\/","title":{"rendered":"Mu\u00f1a supports reopening NMI borders by mid-June"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. chief executive officer Esther Muna, left, and CHCC Corporate Quality and Performance Management manager Halina Palacios observe an orientation briefing for incoming U.S. Army medics, assigned to 25th Infantry Division, who will support CHCC\u2019s vaccination team in administering COVID-19 vaccines to local community members on Saipan. (U.S. NAVY\/BRAD RUSZALA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the anticipated date to reopen the CNMI\u2019s borders to international visitors by mid-June, Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. chief executive officer Esther Mu\u00f1a agrees that it is possible if 80% of the CNMI\u2019s population is vaccinated by then.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a radio news briefing last Friday, April 9, Mu\u00f1a said that once the CNMI gets 80% of its population vaccinated, that\u2019s when they can be sure that the CNMI can open its borders. The CNMI is ratcheting up its vaccination process as a means to hasten the CNMI\u2019s achievement of herd immunity to COVID-19. Herd immunity is when an enough number of a population is vaccinated against a disease, providing a form of protection for those who are unvaccinated.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the same radio news briefing, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres said they are anticipating the reopening of the CNMI\u2019s boarders either in May or June because they want to have at least 80% of the community already vaccinated against COVID-19.<\/p>\n

Mu\u00f1a said CHCC has removed \u201call barriers\u201d for everyone to get the COVID-19 vaccine, which includes the vaccination of those who are 16 years and older on all three islands\u2013Saipan, Rota and Tinian.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn regard to details of when we get to the 80%\u2026I believe mid-June as the governor has stated. \u2026[That] target is something that we have to work together to make sure that it happens, and to ensure that if we’re going to do this, we’re going to do this safe[ly],\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Mu\u00f1a said that just because one is already vaccinated doesn\u2019t mean that one can flout health protocols. She said she doesn\u2019t want the community to think we\u2019re completely safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re looking at this in a way [that] we have to consider our health system, we have to consider what we can take care of. \u2026We don’t want our population to be in a situation that basically puts them at risk when we say \u2018Okay, it’s okay\u2026to remove the quarantine protocols,\u2019\u201d said Mu\u00f1a.<\/p>\n

Mu\u00f1a reiterated that even if you are fully vaccinated, you can still get infected with COVID-19. Only the significant impact on someone\u2019s health is \u201creduced with the vaccination,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

CHCC is mindful of the health system, which is why they want to be sure that everyone has access to the vaccine and COVID-19 testing. This will help achieve the 80% herd immunity and help with making the decision to open safely.<\/p>\n

Torres said realistically mid-June is their target, however, they have an airline that\u2019s anxious for the CNMI to reopen immediately.<\/p>\n

According to Saipan Tribune archives, Torres said they have a task force under the Governor\u2019s Economic Council of Advisers for air transportation and it has already received some suggestions from some airlines in South Korea that they are now working on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the anticipated date to reopen the CNMI\u2019s borders to international visitors by mid-June, Commonwealth…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":331382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-342054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-cnmi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}