A passenger who flew in today via a United Airlines flight from Guam to the CNMI has tested positive for COVID-19, according to the latest report from the CNMI Governor’s COVID-19 Task Force.
The latest to test positive is an asymptomatic 34-year-old male, who is not a resident of the CNMI.
As of tonight, 28 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the CNMI. Of these confirmed cases, five were identified through testing at the CNMI Governor’s COVID-19 Task Force Quarantine Facility.
May 28 UA flight
Over the weekend, the Task Force also identified an asymptomatic 53-year-old male who is a returning resident. After contact-tracing of all passengers, he was placed under quarantine after being identified for additional testing.
He was a passenger of the May 28 United Airlines flight from Guam to the CNMI.
In a news conference streamed through radio station KKMP this morning, CNMI Governor Ralph Torres said the identification of the positive cases from the same United Airlines flight shows that community testing is effective in preventing COVID-19 from spreading in the community.
“With our COVID positive going up another one more — now we are 27 — talking with our CEO and our task force that we are getting the last 5 positive (cases) from inbound, I think we really need to acknowledge the difference between our community-based testing — what we are finding on island and also the numbers coming in. I also appreciate the continued effort on the testing that we have,” the governor said.
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