With the continued rise of positive cases of COVID-19 in the CNMI, Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. chief executive officer Esther L. Mu\u00f1a continues to emphasize the importance of getting vaccinated and wearing a face covering.<\/p>\n
During a virtual news briefing Monday, Mu\u00f1a said that what she and CHCC are currently seeing is that it is the unvaccinated individuals who are experiencing severe symptoms of COVID-19 while vaccinated individuals, though testing positive, experience less severe symptoms. As such, Mu\u00f1a urges community members who have not received been vaccinated to consider doing so. <\/p>\n
Right now, there are six individuals who are hospitalized in the CNMI for COVID-19, with , five of them being unvaccinated. None of the individuals are on a ventilator, CHCC reported.<\/p>\n
Last Monday, there were four active hospitalizations, all four being unvaccinated individuals, and two individuals under observation at CHCC\u2019s Alternative Care Site. <\/p>\n
Mu\u00f1a said that, at this point in time, she and CHCC is seeing widespread transmission of COVID-19. However, Mu\u00f1a added that she and CHCC are also seeing how COVID-19 vaccines work and how being vaccinated prevents most from contracting severe COVID-19-related illnesses.<\/p>\n
\u201c[COVID-19 transmission is] already widespread; we can already see that. It\u2019s not targeted against a population, it\u2019s not targeted against one congregation, we’re seeing it all around. But we are also seeing [how] vaccination works…with preventing hospitalizations and severe illness,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Mu\u00f1a added that CHCC has also been looking at the recent turnout at vaccination sites and said that the numbers as of late were like what CHCC was seeing when it first rolled out COVID-19 vaccines. On top of getting vaccinated, Mu\u00f1a also urges community members to wear a face covering when meeting with others.<\/p>\n
As part of a news release Tuesday, CHCC reported that 519 vaccines were administered on Nov. 29. According to the vaccinatecnmi.com dashboard, as of Tuesday, 36,628 individuals, or 86.4% of the CNMI\u2019s eligible population, are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo see that …individuals are coming in, hearing our call, [and getting] vaccinated, we appreciate that, but we also want to continue to ask people to mask up [because] the most vulnerable time when you can get infected is really with hanging out with your friends and your families,\u201d said Mu\u00f1a.<\/p>\n
The regular reports of double-digit cases of COVID-19 remain a concern, but Mu\u00f1a assures that CHCC\u2019s contact tracing team identifies, isolates, and tests persons of interest quickly and that adequate medical attention is available at these isolation sites for the individuals that need it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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