Nobody tested positive for COVID-19 Monday. Another 8 people were declared free of the disease raising to 66 the total number of island residents who have recovered.
That normally would be a cause for optimism.
But the Governor and her physician advisory group delivered a tough message this afternoon, warning that we are still in the early stages of the island’s COVID-19 outbreak.
“All our test results that were done yesterday were negative. I’m very excited about that. But again excited in the same way that we should be committed and continue on with our measures,” the governor said in her FaceBook post this morning.
But during this afternoon’s online news conference, the message was much tougher. Dr. Felix Cabrera is with the Governor’s physician advisory group.
“At this point here, we are still at the extremely early stages of what even our initial projections were showing,” Dr. Cabrera said.
Earlier this month, the physician advisory group presented a worst-case scenario, projecting that the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak on Guam might not come until June.
And today Dr. Cabrera said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s independent modeling has projected a peak by mid-May — more than a month away.
“Therefore, any discussion on Guam already being past our peak is not only extremely premature, but potentially dangerous. This is especially concerning because there is now growing consensus among the country’s experts that COVID 19 has the potential to hit us in waves,” Dr. Cabrera said.
The Governor added: “While the numbers we have seen seem favorable, now is not the time to celebrate. Our concern should be in the longer-term trends and the numbers seem to indicate that we need to stay the course to ensure that we are not hit by a second potentially more fatal wave.”
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