Saipan- A sailor deployed to Tinian from Guam as part of a team of the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (Seabees) supporting a survey for the Tinian port construction project tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday.
This brings the CNMI’s total case count to 57 cases since March 28.
According to the Office of the CNMI governor, The individual was identified by travel screening and confirmed diagnosis through testing on arrival protocols set forth by the Covid-19 Task Force and the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation.
Navy officials have coordinated with Task Force officials to safely transport the confirmed individual and other identified known contacts from Tinian to Saipan.
The identified sailor, confirmed Covid-19 positive, has been placed into isolation, while the remainder of the team and two additional sailors identified as close contacts were placed into quarantine at the designated government quarantine facility at the Kanoa Resort for close monitoring.
“In partnership with Joint Region Marianas, our Covid-19 Task Force, CHCC, and Mayor of Tinian Edwin P. Aldan, the CNMI was able to quickly identify the sailor and all identified close contacts and placed them in isolation away from our community. Protection of all of our islands from Covid-19 is our collective goal, and we will continue to do what is necessary to protect our community,” said Gov.Ralph DLG. Torres.
Before traveling to Tinian via military aircraft, the Department of Defense informed the CNMI government that the entire deployed Seabee team remained in a restriction of movement sequester for greater than 14 days onboard U.S. Naval Base Guam and that all tested negative for Covid-19.
On Guam, there were 219 Cobvid-19 cases in the military sector as of Sept. .
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“Although testing negative, the test is only for a single point of time. Those who are asymptomatic, as in this instance, the virus may have been incubating, but not at a detectable level. Due to the nature of this evolving virus, the CNMI is aggressive in our testing to reduce the possibility of community transmission," CHCC Chief Executive Officer Esther L. Muña said.
"Additionally, this underscores the value of adherence to local protocols for arrival screening which have served CNMI well for border protection, along with the investment the CHCC and the Covid-19 Task Force has made to ensure quality and timely laboratory testing is available on island,” Muna added.
The Governor’s Covid-19 Task Force and CHCC have coordinated with Navy public health officials for contact tracing efforts to keep the CNMI safe.