Saipan confirms two COVID-19 positive cases

The COVID-19 virus that has brought the rest of the world to a standstill has finally arrived in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

As shown in a live broadcast of a news conference by Saipan's KSPN on Facebook, a 42-year-old male and 49-year-old female are at the Kanoa Resort, in quarantine, since they sought treatment at the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation March 25-26.

Contact tracing has already begun and includes family, friends and fellow parishioners.\

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The patients were tested March 27. Their specimens were sent to Guam's Department of Public Health and Social Services, which confirmed the presence of COVID-19, said Dr. John Tudela, medical director of the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation.

CNMI Gov. Ralph DLG Torres said that quarantine measures remain in place for all arriving passengers. Last Sunday, Torres said there were no reported COVID-19 cases after test results for three people came back negative, including one in isolation.

Since Monday, Torres has declared a state of emergency and announced various measures to help residents and mitigate the spread of the virus, including social distancing guidelines, federal funds to combat the virus, limited hours for businesses to be open, small business loans and taxpayer and utilities relief.

He also closed schools and non-essential government operations.