Saipan - Esther Muña, CEO, Northern Mariana Islands Healthcare Corporation

Conversations about the Islands: the U.S. Territories and the Freely Associated States.

Join us in OIA Conversations to learn more about the islands - people, lives, history, and future. What do you know about the U.S. Territories and the Freely Associated States? Let's have some conversations and learn together.

We speak with Ms. Esther Muña, who has been leading the charge in the CNMI to fight COVID-19 since the global pandemic began in early 2020.  Muña describes efforts in the CNMI to develop testing, conduct quarantine and isolation operations and protect the CNMI from COVID-19 !

There's more to islands ...
 
Hosted by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) Deputy Policy Director and Communications Lead Tanya Harris Joshua, this conversation series highlights people and issues of importance to the U.S. territories and the freely associated states.

OIA Conversation Series  |  #WhatWeDoIslands  |  www.doi.gov/oia  |  @InsularAffairs

Transcript

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welcome everybody this evening or this

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morning if you're in the

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northern mariana islands we have the

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honor to have a conversation

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with esther muña uh chief executive

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officer for the commonwealth

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of the northern mariana islands health

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corporation

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she is speaking to us from the island of

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saipan

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and i am with my colleague francisco

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taetano

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cnmi northern mariana islands desk

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officer in the office of insular affairs

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at the department of the interior

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and i'm also accompanied by philippe

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i who is an intern with us he is a

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student at duke university

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so he's supporting us with all the

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technical support that we need

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tonight to get this conversation going i

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myself am tanya joshua

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i'm in the policy division at the office

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of insular affairs

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i am the deputy policy director and also

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communications lead for the department

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for the office

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for the office of insular affairs and we

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are having a series of conversations to

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uh bring some awareness to the different

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programs and the different

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uh offices and uh uh

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places that that the office of insular

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affairs funds

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and so tonight as i said we have the

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honor to speak with ms

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esther muña um so please um esther

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could you uh

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introduce yourself and tell us a little

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bit uh give us a little bit of

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background

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my name is esther muña i am the chief

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executive officer for the only hospital

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in the northern mariana islands and

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because we are a one health system

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i'm also the territorial health official

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for public health

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so um my basically i've been in this job

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for

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more than two uh actually i've been in

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the health center for more than 20 years

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but i've only been in this job for about

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six years

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ah fantastic and you were can you tell

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us how many islands there are that you

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serve and the number of your population

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52

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000 people um from the last census i

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believe

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and um you know we serve uh 14 islands

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but of course the three populated most

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populated islands are Saipan, Tinian, and

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Rota

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and now we have it i'm sorry we do have

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health facilities in all three islands

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okay okay and you did say that you were

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before you became

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ceo you were still in the health care

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system in what capacity

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that would touch a little on how you

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started i guess

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sure i was the hospital administrator

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i was also the chief ex chief financial

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officer

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i worked in the business office i was a

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medical coder

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i was all around nice

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so you have a wide range of experience

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there

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tell us a little bit maybe we could

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focus on coronavirus and

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and how it uh came to the cnmi

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uh maybe we'll start there so

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um you know i wow if i have to go back

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um march 28 was our first case um that's

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when we

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identified uh first case and that result

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came from guam

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so before that we were not

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testing here in the cnmi and all our case

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and in fact we were the first in the

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pacific

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uh at least in the us apis to send a

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test uh or request for testing um

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when it was still being sent to atlanta

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and so it took about

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uh 14 almost 14 days for a result to

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come in

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we were fortunate that that was not a

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positive case

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but still it you know the the long wait

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of finding out whether we have it in our

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community was of course

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stressful for the population as well as

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our health care providers

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previously you would send all of your

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tests to atlanta georgia

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and you would have to wait correct but

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now you're

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you're testing currently in the cnmi

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correct

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yes yeah we've been here at the

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airport waiting for the test kits we've

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been working on this test case for

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about three weeks now and

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we have about twenty thousand on board

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and as you see

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uh it's uh here on the island uh we'll

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be working on the

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get into test kits and hopefully uh

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start uh

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doing some testing in the next couple of

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days i want to thank esther munia again

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our ceo i remember when the airlines

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temporarily shut down united i i worried

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about how you were

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if we had not moved to local testing

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how that would have affected you correct

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i mean it was

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um it was really really again stressful

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for all of us because

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you know once we you know we were basing

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it on

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a person under investigation so

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individuals who had recently traveled at

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the time

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had um you know had symptoms um of

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coughing

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and those are the the key basically

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wasn't it wasn't um it was more on

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physician provider detection and saying

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this is a person under investigation we

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would like to test them so it was

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always uh it was a big challenge

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um and how are are the airlines coming

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in today

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and how is that working in terms of

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testing and and

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travel is is that happening are you

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getting community spread

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what's the what's the situation

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currently so currently

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we have not had a community spread for

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over 90 days um

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so that has been um it seems like

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it seems like it's contained um you know

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of course we are we can never be 100

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sure

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um one of the things that um

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we took into account um or at least we

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had to consider

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back in early in april was that

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how do we make sure that people who

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who think they have covet who are at

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risk of of

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of having covid have the the ability to

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access care

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we took advantage of the public health

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emergency

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and um you know we have

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we are eligible our our population are

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eligible for the presumptive eligibility

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for medicaid

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so that allows people to access care

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without

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fear of cost and we always

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emphasize we were putting out messaging

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that individuals we don't really

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look for you know status of immigration

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we want to know if you have it right so

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that we can contain it

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um so that was our our key thing too as

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well uh making sure

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that access is open and so

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in fact it was interesting because our

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50th case

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um was um was someone

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who wanted a an elective surgery so at

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that time we were already

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accepting uh you know reopening the

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elective surgeries

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and this individual would not have

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opted for that elective surgery if she

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did not have medicaid

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but because of that presumptive

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eligibility she was eligible

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and we were able to contain it quickly

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and rather than

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you know not you know having that

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individual walk around not knowing that

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they have medi they have like a virus so

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and this uh presumptive of eligibility

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is available through the medicare

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through medicare and not necessarily say

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the cares act

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um it was it was because of the public

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health emergency

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from secretary azar who gave well

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because of the covet situation

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um that's an emergency for for all

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actually for disasters

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it's one of the things that was offered

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so we

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so each state and territory has the

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option to opt into that

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and so we requested the governor to

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request and

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and that was approved um right away so

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um i i'm aware that you have a marianas

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resort

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uh of a facility that the government

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owns and that you are

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perhaps currently renovating or already

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using that as a facility

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how much did that come into play in

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terms of it seems like you've been very

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successful in managing

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um so uh we have a what we call

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um it's um it's a public health

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law uh call uh public law

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sorry public law 13-63 which

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basically um you know in in in

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in addition to the governor's uh

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directive of

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our executive order for 14-day

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quarantine

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so we have this ability to say

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you know you're you're a traveler you

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are

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putting cmi at risk we have

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to con basically because you are putting

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cinema at risk

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we have especially that as a territorial

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health official

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has the authority to say hey we need to

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isolate you until you complete your

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quarantine and we were doing that

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for 14 days initially around you know

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march april

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but as soon as the tests were available

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we had to make a decision

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you know what would be um

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scientifically you know um correct in

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making sure

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that we um you know we test individuals

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um at the right time so we knew that

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testing them on arrival was essential

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a lot of people at the time when we

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enforced this was not

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able to afford or the tests were not

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available in the u.s mainland

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or even in guam so we were afraid

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that individuals would come without

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you know without us being had the

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ability to test them or at least detect

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whether they have the virus or not so we

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tested them on arrival

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and then we also test um based again on

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on science and the the detection time we

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decided that the fifth day after a

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person

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completes a fifth day testing or fifth

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day since arrival we would be able to

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test them

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and if they because of that time frame

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from date of arrival and the fifth day

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we were able to say okay this individual

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can go into the community

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um you know still follow quarantine you

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know i'm not quarantined but

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uh three w's you know washing wearing a

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mask

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and you know watching their distance

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make them understand that

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and then they're in the community so

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the the fact that we're able to put

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individuals in quarantine

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immediately upon arrival is really

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really essential for us

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because if we did not i mean one of our

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i mean i could not sleep at night

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knowing that someone

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would be in quarantine at home um

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you know obviously behaviors and we're

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seeing that all over the place you know

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behaviors can

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create you know can be a problem in

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order for us to contain this and we are

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you know being mindful about we are one

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health system

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we have high incidence of diabetes

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hypertension

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we have you know the population is

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not a you know a very healthy population

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and we want it again our health system

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is a 76 bed hospital

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we wanted to make sure that we are able

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to take care of our population and the

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only way to do that is to have these

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quarantine facilities

0:11:29.279,0:11:32.560

ready and be able to take them in so

0:11:31.920,0:11:35.680

that

0:11:32.560,0:11:37.680

it doesn't put a risk to our community

0:11:35.680,0:11:39.279

what is the capacity of your quarantine

0:11:37.680,0:11:40.560

facilities and what has been your

0:11:39.279,0:11:45.120

maximum

0:11:40.560,0:11:48.160

uh uh people in in the in the facilities

0:11:45.120,0:11:49.839

um for kanoa it's around between two

0:11:48.160,0:11:52.000

hundred three hundred i'm not quite sure

0:11:49.839,0:11:54.079

some somewhere in between and it's the

0:11:52.000,0:11:57.040

same with a marianas resort

0:11:54.079,0:11:58.880

so it's always dependent on how many

0:11:57.040,0:12:00.880

passengers are coming in on the

0:11:58.880,0:12:03.120

on the flight so we have flights on

0:12:00.880,0:12:06.320

monday thursdays and saturdays

0:12:03.120,0:12:07.920

and so when we as of course you know

0:12:06.320,0:12:10.800

thursday arrivals

0:12:07.920,0:12:13.279

we'll have to if it's a hundred and then

0:12:10.800,0:12:14.079

monday arrivals obviously that combines

0:12:13.279,0:12:17.200

that arrival

0:12:14.079,0:12:19.440

a total so that basically takes the

0:12:17.200,0:12:21.200

the the capacity of the of the

0:12:19.440,0:12:23.040

facilities so we needed two

0:12:21.200,0:12:25.839

both of them because sometimes one of

0:12:23.040,0:12:25.839

them would be full

0:12:26.240,0:12:31.680

i see um do you

0:12:29.680,0:12:32.720

you know there are many other islands

0:12:31.680,0:12:34.800

all the other uh

0:12:32.720,0:12:36.639

us-affiliated pacific islands are all

0:12:34.800,0:12:40.880

grappling at different levels with

0:12:36.639,0:12:42.800

with this uh what what advice would you

0:12:40.880,0:12:44.240

uh do you have any recommendations or

0:12:42.800,0:12:47.839

any things that that you would

0:12:44.240,0:12:50.000

recommend to them well um

0:12:47.839,0:12:52.000

wow i don't know if i want to say i want

0:12:50.000,0:12:54.880

to make a recommendation because i

0:12:52.000,0:12:56.399

you know everyone's different and but i

0:12:54.880,0:12:58.160

you know one of the things that we

0:12:56.399,0:13:00.720

decided early

0:12:58.160,0:13:03.040

on you know when we even before we

0:13:00.720,0:13:05.120

detected our first case right

0:13:03.040,0:13:06.320

was that you know there's this public

0:13:05.120,0:13:09.120

health ingredient

0:13:06.320,0:13:11.040

uh you know public health uh management

0:13:09.120,0:13:12.639

which basically says that in order for

0:13:11.040,0:13:15.040

you to contain

0:13:12.639,0:13:15.839

and eliminate um you know infectious

0:13:15.040,0:13:19.680

diseases

0:13:15.839,0:13:23.040

is basically you are able to identify

0:13:19.680,0:13:24.880

you treat you isolate and you know

0:13:23.040,0:13:26.480

basically that was the ingredient and we

0:13:24.880,0:13:28.480

needed to make sure that we were able

0:13:26.480,0:13:30.320

and also monitoring forgot i forgot the

0:13:28.480,0:13:32.639

one last thing which is monitoring

0:13:30.320,0:13:34.800

but you know one of the things that we

0:13:32.639,0:13:36.959

needed to do was get the tests

0:13:34.800,0:13:38.079

because how do you identify if you're

0:13:36.959,0:13:39.680

not able to

0:13:38.079,0:13:41.760

to you know if you if you don't have the

0:13:39.680,0:13:45.360

ability to capacity to test

0:13:41.760,0:13:48.079

so we we invested a lot in the beginning

0:13:45.360,0:13:49.519

we knew we didn't prior to getting cares

0:13:48.079,0:13:50.800

funding actually we were already

0:13:49.519,0:13:54.000

planning to purchase

0:13:50.800,0:13:57.120

these i you know the testing capacity

0:13:54.000,0:13:58.800

making sure that we have that um the

0:13:57.120,0:13:59.920

other thing too is um of course the

0:13:58.800,0:14:02.240

quarantine you know again

0:13:59.920,0:14:03.199

to to isolate you needed to isolate and

0:14:02.240,0:14:05.519

quarantine was

0:14:03.199,0:14:06.800

was important so one of our discussions

0:14:05.519,0:14:09.360

with the governor was

0:14:06.800,0:14:11.680

you know what are their options to to to

0:14:09.360,0:14:12.240

ensure that people do isolate when they

0:14:11.680,0:14:14.800

are

0:14:12.240,0:14:15.440

uh detected as having the virus and

0:14:14.800,0:14:17.760

wanna

0:14:15.440,0:14:19.680

so we arrange that with uh the task

0:14:17.760,0:14:21.199

force you know the governor's task force

0:14:19.680,0:14:22.720

to ensure so they're the ones that are

0:14:21.199,0:14:25.279

the enforcers of this

0:14:22.720,0:14:27.279

uh quarantine and isolation and of

0:14:25.279,0:14:29.040

course we also wanted to make sure we

0:14:27.279,0:14:31.040

treat and one of the things that we were

0:14:29.040,0:14:32.000

worried about is again a mentioning of

0:14:31.040,0:14:35.199

76

0:14:32.000,0:14:36.959

that capacity you know we were back in

0:14:35.199,0:14:38.560

june i think there was a prediction of

0:14:36.959,0:14:40.639

more cases

0:14:38.560,0:14:42.240

and we just wanted to make sure so we

0:14:40.639,0:14:43.680

discussed that with the governor's task

0:14:42.240,0:14:46.720

force again and the governor

0:14:43.680,0:14:47.760

and that's where the acs was uh you know

0:14:46.720,0:14:49.839

was pursued

0:14:47.760,0:14:51.680

uh the alternate care side in kanoa so

0:14:49.839,0:14:54.240

that was the reason why they

0:14:51.680,0:14:56.160

um they made that renovation and last

0:14:54.240,0:14:59.360

but not least is monitoring

0:14:56.160,0:15:01.279

so we were actually the first um

0:14:59.360,0:15:02.480

in the region but also one of the first

0:15:01.279,0:15:05.920

in the nation to

0:15:02.480,0:15:08.320

uh implement the sarah alert system

0:15:05.920,0:15:10.399

um that is a system of monitoring

0:15:08.320,0:15:11.680

individuals like they basically and it's

0:15:10.399,0:15:15.199

uh we started out with

0:15:11.680,0:15:18.880

tim's initially which is a cdc program

0:15:15.199,0:15:20.560

um but it was only for text and so we

0:15:18.880,0:15:22.160

said you know what are the other options

0:15:20.560,0:15:24.320

and and we did we did that

0:15:22.160,0:15:25.199

the sir alert system basically monitors

0:15:24.320,0:15:28.560

you via

0:15:25.199,0:15:31.199

via phone um you know internet um

0:15:28.560,0:15:33.120

whichever medium you want to use they

0:15:31.199,0:15:35.440

will be able to to help you

0:15:33.120,0:15:36.480

um and so the sar alert system kind of

0:15:35.440,0:15:38.720

gives us that

0:15:36.480,0:15:40.639

so if there's any alert we were able to

0:15:38.720,0:15:41.600

follow up our contact racing is also

0:15:40.639,0:15:44.320

very key

0:15:41.600,0:15:46.000

you know there the um you know we didn't

0:15:44.320,0:15:48.240

build an army but we

0:15:46.000,0:15:49.040

we basically maybe a battalion if you

0:15:48.240,0:15:51.199

want to call it

0:15:49.040,0:15:54.320

you know um making sure that we had

0:15:51.199,0:15:56.800

enough uh contact tracers to be able to

0:15:54.320,0:15:58.800

to track every and and they are we you

0:15:56.800,0:16:00.800

know consistently reporting on

0:15:58.800,0:16:02.480

what's the status of their contacts so

0:16:00.800,0:16:04.480

we've been doing that

0:16:02.480,0:16:06.160

um tell me tell us a little bit about

0:16:04.480,0:16:07.600

your work with um the centers for

0:16:06.160,0:16:09.680

disease control

0:16:07.600,0:16:11.519

i i understand that you are working

0:16:09.680,0:16:14.880

closely with them

0:16:11.519,0:16:15.600

yes um we have um we have someone in

0:16:14.880,0:16:19.759

guam

0:16:15.600,0:16:22.480

and um basically who works with us

0:16:19.759,0:16:23.199

dr tayne hancock is there we also have

0:16:22.480,0:16:25.920

dr

0:16:23.199,0:16:28.160

dick brostrom who's who was a former

0:16:25.920,0:16:31.759

siphon resident who now lives in hawaii

0:16:28.160,0:16:34.399

and he has been our contact as well

0:16:31.759,0:16:36.320

you know to ensure that if our providers

0:16:34.399,0:16:38.720

can basically pick up the phone

0:16:36.320,0:16:39.680

if there's any question on you know the

0:16:38.720,0:16:43.199

isolation

0:16:39.680,0:16:44.240

um a treatment they are definitely there

0:16:43.199,0:16:47.279

for support

0:16:44.240,0:16:50.240

um they have been working with us to

0:16:47.279,0:16:52.000

also beef up our and make sure that

0:16:50.240,0:16:54.320

there's that quality side of course you

0:16:52.000,0:16:56.000

know we're going to get the testing

0:16:54.320,0:16:57.920

ability there but we wanted to make sure

0:16:56.000,0:16:58.720

that we have a laboratory information

0:16:57.920,0:17:00.639

system

0:16:58.720,0:17:03.279

making sure that if there's a we're able

0:17:00.639,0:17:06.559

to report in a timely manner to

0:17:03.279,0:17:08.079

cdc and um so those are the things that

0:17:06.559,0:17:10.079

we really work with now we're working

0:17:08.079,0:17:13.120

with them closely with the vaccines

0:17:10.079,0:17:13.679

uh the vaccine planning and um yeah it's

0:17:13.120,0:17:15.520

been uh

0:17:13.679,0:17:18.400

it's almost uh basically every week we

0:17:15.520,0:17:21.360

meet with them consistently so

0:17:18.400,0:17:23.439

um i yes i i believe we have a colleague

0:17:21.360,0:17:25.199

marina tinitali who's who joins you

0:17:23.439,0:17:27.600

perhaps on those calls also

0:17:25.199,0:17:29.520

um maybe with the pacific island uh with

0:17:27.600,0:17:30.559

pihua the pacific island health officers

0:17:29.520,0:17:34.080

association

0:17:30.559,0:17:34.960

yeah yeah yeah she works she she's there

0:17:34.080,0:17:38.320

and she's also

0:17:34.960,0:17:40.000

in the um astral meetings uh

0:17:38.320,0:17:41.600

the association of state and territorial

0:17:40.000,0:17:44.080

health official meetings yeah

0:17:41.600,0:17:46.320

officers meetings so in terms of

0:17:44.080,0:17:48.160

collaboration with federal officials

0:17:46.320,0:17:49.600

and and regional officials there has

0:17:48.160,0:17:51.919

been no uh

0:17:49.600,0:17:53.760

no snags i mean it seems like uh there's

0:17:51.919,0:17:55.840

been a lot of good flow of information

0:17:53.760,0:17:59.440

and communication

0:17:55.840,0:18:02.000

yes um i have to say uh kudos to

0:17:59.440,0:18:02.880

my team um you know obviously i can't do

0:18:02.000,0:18:04.799

it alone

0:18:02.880,0:18:06.160

um there's a lot of good people here in

0:18:04.799,0:18:08.000

our our system

0:18:06.160,0:18:09.360

health system that that are really

0:18:08.000,0:18:11.760

committed um

0:18:09.360,0:18:12.480

you know i often question if they have

0:18:11.760,0:18:14.559

fatigued

0:18:12.480,0:18:15.840

you know um because of the work that

0:18:14.559,0:18:18.559

they've done you know since

0:18:15.840,0:18:20.080

basically since since january we started

0:18:18.559,0:18:23.039

you know preparing for this

0:18:20.080,0:18:23.360

um but they have been really you know um

0:18:23.039,0:18:25.760

if

0:18:23.360,0:18:28.240

um we basically connect with each other

0:18:25.760,0:18:30.799

i mean sure i get the emails but i but i

0:18:28.240,0:18:32.640

i'm confident you know that someone is

0:18:30.799,0:18:35.200

handling it already so that's been

0:18:32.640,0:18:36.400

really that's a blessing for me

0:18:35.200,0:18:38.160

absolutely

0:18:36.400,0:18:40.000

um can you tell us a little bit about

0:18:38.160,0:18:43.360

your cares act funding

0:18:40.000,0:18:45.679

and what that um what that has

0:18:43.360,0:18:46.960

supported in the territory and how that

0:18:45.679,0:18:50.400

has um

0:18:46.960,0:18:53.760

supported the the cnmi the system

0:18:50.400,0:18:56.640

sure um so i know that um for us

0:18:53.760,0:18:57.520

i can only speak for what chcc got

0:18:56.640,0:18:59.919

directly

0:18:57.520,0:19:00.960

um i know that some had gone to the the

0:18:59.919,0:19:04.000

cinema government

0:19:00.960,0:19:07.919

them you know directly so for the

0:19:04.000,0:19:10.480

for us we have been able to received um

0:19:07.919,0:19:11.039

you know from cdc also through the cares

0:19:10.480,0:19:14.480

act

0:19:11.039,0:19:18.080

um basically um you know um

0:19:14.480,0:19:20.720

sorry um building on our lap capacity

0:19:18.080,0:19:22.880

our laboratory was basically like a i

0:19:20.720,0:19:25.440

mean it was just a small area and it

0:19:22.880,0:19:27.200

expanded you know to ensure that we have

0:19:25.440,0:19:29.039

the ability to to test

0:19:27.200,0:19:30.799

so this is in addition to hospitals so

0:19:29.039,0:19:32.960

these are hospital staff

0:19:30.799,0:19:34.320

that are now testing in the public

0:19:32.960,0:19:36.320

health side so they're

0:19:34.320,0:19:38.240

that's been really really helpful um

0:19:36.320,0:19:40.559

contact tracers is one of the the

0:19:38.240,0:19:42.720

uh you know hiring of contact tracers

0:19:40.559,0:19:43.440

that's one of the keras act support as

0:19:42.720,0:19:46.160

well

0:19:43.440,0:19:47.280

um we've also uh gotten some cares

0:19:46.160,0:19:49.200

funding for

0:19:47.280,0:19:50.480

um you know making sure that we have

0:19:49.200,0:19:53.200

hepa filters

0:19:50.480,0:19:54.799

we have be able to make sure that uh

0:19:53.200,0:19:56.880

bringing back to normal

0:19:54.799,0:19:58.799

we are able to make sure that anyone

0:19:56.880,0:20:00.559

that comes into catc

0:19:58.799,0:20:02.559

um this is the safest place to go

0:20:00.559,0:20:05.280

basically you know um

0:20:02.559,0:20:07.440

so you know one of the questions that i

0:20:05.280,0:20:10.880

mentioned about their 50th case where

0:20:07.440,0:20:13.840

an individual came in on um you know

0:20:10.880,0:20:15.039

basically has it has a covid went to

0:20:13.840,0:20:16.640

surgery

0:20:15.039,0:20:18.320

none of our healthcare workers were

0:20:16.640,0:20:20.559

infected so those are

0:20:18.320,0:20:21.840

are definitely something that um you

0:20:20.559,0:20:23.840

know shows that

0:20:21.840,0:20:25.919

that you know this would not have

0:20:23.840,0:20:27.280

happened um if we weren't able to have

0:20:25.919,0:20:29.760

that cares funding

0:20:27.280,0:20:32.000

yes congratulations i mean at this

0:20:29.760,0:20:32.400

moment in time it seems there's a lot of

0:20:32.000,0:20:35.280

um

0:20:32.400,0:20:37.200

spiking happening but you seem to have

0:20:35.280,0:20:40.720

done a really good job of

0:20:37.200,0:20:44.000

of containing containing it

0:20:40.720,0:20:45.120

we're trying believe me i've been called

0:20:44.000,0:20:49.120

all kinds of words

0:20:45.120,0:20:52.159

but i don't hear

0:20:49.120,0:20:55.120

i'm sure that's that's a difficult one

0:20:52.159,0:20:55.520

about the covet vaccine what exactly is

0:20:55.120,0:20:59.520

the

0:20:55.520,0:21:01.360

is that for covet vaccine the latest uh

0:20:59.520,0:21:03.600

that was published on the newspaper that

0:21:01.360,0:21:06.240

you'll be receiving this month

0:21:03.600,0:21:08.240

uh or is that related to something else

0:21:06.240,0:21:10.720

a type of vaccine

0:21:08.240,0:21:13.280

so so there's uh there are two types of

0:21:10.720,0:21:16.000

uh the two companies basically moderna

0:21:13.280,0:21:16.720

and pfizer and we expected that there

0:21:16.000,0:21:18.720

were going to be

0:21:16.720,0:21:20.400

um when we were first discussing this we

0:21:18.720,0:21:22.640

didn't know which type

0:21:20.400,0:21:23.440

but as as we got later on to the stage

0:21:22.640,0:21:25.039

we were already

0:21:23.440,0:21:27.200

learning that it was pfizer and

0:21:25.039,0:21:29.440

modernity that's getting closer to

0:21:27.200,0:21:32.159

to uh you know testing completion and

0:21:29.440,0:21:35.280

and possibly getting their e ways

0:21:32.159,0:21:36.080

probably this week so um one of the

0:21:35.280,0:21:38.159

things that

0:21:36.080,0:21:40.000

um you know there's uh it's a little

0:21:38.159,0:21:42.240

difficult for the pfizer i believe

0:21:40.000,0:21:43.280

because it does require the outer code

0:21:42.240,0:21:46.559

temperature

0:21:43.280,0:21:47.840

and um so we are i i realize

0:21:46.559,0:21:49.840

from from the calls that i've been

0:21:47.840,0:21:51.120

attending whether it's behold asto or

0:21:49.840,0:21:52.720

cdc calls

0:21:51.120,0:21:54.320

that a lot of people are challenged with

0:21:52.720,0:21:56.159

that because of the again

0:21:54.320,0:21:58.720

in you know i believe it's negative 90

0:21:56.159,0:22:01.679

degrees fahrenheit so um

0:21:58.720,0:22:02.080

one so one of the cdc recommendations

0:22:01.679,0:22:05.360

are

0:22:02.080,0:22:08.400

that we test i'm sorry we vaccinate or

0:22:05.360,0:22:10.960

inoculate those individuals that are

0:22:08.400,0:22:11.440

healthcare workers as a priority and

0:22:10.960,0:22:13.600

then

0:22:11.440,0:22:14.720

uh with those with the uh vulnerable

0:22:13.600,0:22:17.919

most vulnerable

0:22:14.720,0:22:19.679

um that's from cdc um

0:22:17.919,0:22:21.120

you know that that did not come from

0:22:19.679,0:22:23.840

estromounia saying

0:22:21.120,0:22:25.200

i'm gonna you know inoculate only

0:22:23.840,0:22:28.320

healthcare workers

0:22:25.200,0:22:30.960

so um so that was the the um

0:22:28.320,0:22:32.559

the recommendation um we submitted that

0:22:30.960,0:22:34.400

as well in our planning

0:22:32.559,0:22:35.919

and it's actually posted on the cdc

0:22:34.400,0:22:38.000

website you can see all the states and

0:22:35.919,0:22:41.600

territories uh vaccine planning

0:22:38.000,0:22:45.120

and cnmi is definitely there um we

0:22:41.600,0:22:48.159

are so the there is that moderna moderna

0:22:45.120,0:22:48.880

is looking at possibly being the later

0:22:48.159,0:22:51.200

face

0:22:48.880,0:22:52.640

and that will be for the uh you know

0:22:51.200,0:22:55.679

mass vaccination

0:22:52.640,0:22:58.320

for the community and a second so the

0:22:55.679,0:23:01.120

first batch we're expecting about 2000

0:22:58.320,0:23:02.080

again that is something that we still

0:23:01.120,0:23:05.120

have not said

0:23:02.080,0:23:08.640

yes we're going to accept it however

0:23:05.120,0:23:10.080

it is part of the discussion and um

0:23:08.640,0:23:11.600

you know to make sure that we are able

0:23:10.080,0:23:13.679

to receive it obviously we want to

0:23:11.600,0:23:16.080

receive it we want to be able to use it

0:23:13.679,0:23:17.600

and we want to be able to to store it

0:23:16.080,0:23:19.600

and not waste it right

0:23:17.600,0:23:21.679

and so there's key things that need to

0:23:19.600,0:23:22.000

be we have to do micro planning in other

0:23:21.679,0:23:24.720

words

0:23:22.000,0:23:26.240

to make sure that uh the state uh or the

0:23:24.720,0:23:28.320

territory is uh

0:23:26.240,0:23:29.679

aligned in making sure that uh this

0:23:28.320,0:23:31.360

works um

0:23:29.679,0:23:33.200

so that is a conversation that we're

0:23:31.360,0:23:36.240

gonna have this week to whether to say

0:23:33.200,0:23:39.440

yes it's a go no-go um

0:23:36.240,0:23:41.120

and we are looking at a go so um

0:23:39.440,0:23:42.960

you know we're we're looking forward to

0:23:41.120,0:23:46.080

that but then again

0:23:42.960,0:23:47.840

uh the 15 000 is around january

0:23:46.080,0:23:49.520

and that is i believe is from the

0:23:47.840,0:23:51.200

moderna which

0:23:49.520,0:23:53.039

again i'm not sure about that but it's

0:23:51.200,0:23:55.760

that's from what i hear

0:23:53.039,0:23:57.440

but it's um it's again mass vaccination

0:23:55.760,0:23:59.120

and we're doing a survey we're going to

0:23:57.440,0:24:01.760

be doing a survey to make sure

0:23:59.120,0:24:03.279

that you know people are um you know

0:24:01.760,0:24:05.679

what are their fears

0:24:03.279,0:24:08.080

what what can how can we convince them

0:24:05.679,0:24:10.559

you know or should we even convince them

0:24:08.080,0:24:11.760

um you know um there was a discussion

0:24:10.559,0:24:13.120

this weekend about

0:24:11.760,0:24:15.200

what about those that have been

0:24:13.120,0:24:16.720

previously detected um you know

0:24:15.200,0:24:18.880

previously infected

0:24:16.720,0:24:20.159

um are they going to be also getting

0:24:18.880,0:24:22.400

vaccines and

0:24:20.159,0:24:23.200

uh from what we heard from cdc's that

0:24:22.400,0:24:26.159

there's no

0:24:23.200,0:24:26.720

um study that shows that they are

0:24:26.159,0:24:27.760

immediate

0:24:26.720,0:24:29.840

in other words they have built an

0:24:27.760,0:24:31.600

antibody that they would have to be

0:24:29.840,0:24:34.799

vaccinated as well so

0:24:31.600,0:24:37.200

that's where we're at with that and uh

0:24:34.799,0:24:38.720

you know every day i'm actually almost

0:24:37.200,0:24:39.440

every other day we're meeting about this

0:24:38.720,0:24:42.559

vaccine

0:24:39.440,0:24:45.200

because um we want to make sure that um

0:24:42.559,0:24:45.760

you know it's talking it i mean to the

0:24:45.200,0:24:48.480

detail

0:24:45.760,0:24:50.640

to even call center having a call center

0:24:48.480,0:24:51.520

so people can be able to call in and say

0:24:50.640,0:24:53.600

you know what

0:24:51.520,0:24:54.960

you know what happens you know uh what

0:24:53.600,0:24:56.640

about this so there's gonna be a lot of

0:24:54.960,0:24:58.400

questions from the community so we wanna

0:24:56.640,0:25:01.200

make sure that that's available

0:24:58.400,0:25:03.440

yeah how how it how do you communicate

0:25:01.200,0:25:05.919

with the community what is your um

0:25:03.440,0:25:06.480

preferred method or what methods do you

0:25:05.919,0:25:08.559

use to

0:25:06.480,0:25:09.600

to communicate with the with the public

0:25:08.559,0:25:11.360

at large

0:25:09.600,0:25:13.279

right now we're always using facebook i

0:25:11.360,0:25:15.360

mean that's been our

0:25:13.279,0:25:17.120

most popular i mean it's been shared and

0:25:15.360,0:25:20.480

shared a lot of times

0:25:17.120,0:25:23.760

um by the community members people

0:25:20.480,0:25:26.840

also like to hear you know listen to

0:25:23.760,0:25:28.320

the tv television especially the older

0:25:26.840,0:25:30.880

generation

0:25:28.320,0:25:32.159

they prefer the radio or the television

0:25:30.880,0:25:34.640

so um

0:25:32.159,0:25:36.559

when when i do have a chance i mean when

0:25:34.640,0:25:37.520

i'm when i'm asked and there are times

0:25:36.559,0:25:40.880

when we do

0:25:37.520,0:25:44.400

put out a press release i would go on on

0:25:40.880,0:25:45.200

that and um so i think people would

0:25:44.400,0:25:48.320

rather

0:25:45.200,0:25:51.279

hear it directly rather than uh

0:25:48.320,0:25:52.720

read it that's the way i see but i i

0:25:51.279,0:25:54.880

could be wrong

0:25:52.720,0:25:56.240

i i remember you were on a facebook

0:25:54.880,0:25:59.760

interview

0:25:56.240,0:26:02.480

uh with the gary sword show i believe

0:25:59.760,0:26:02.880

oh okay yeah early morning radio show

0:26:02.480,0:26:06.559

yeah

0:26:02.880,0:26:07.330

yeah yeah so yeah one time i was really

0:26:06.559,0:26:09.520

mad

0:26:07.330,0:26:11.679

[Laughter]

0:26:09.520,0:26:13.840

i didn't hear you when you were mad but

0:26:11.679,0:26:14.480

uh i remember hearing you with uh the

0:26:13.840,0:26:17.600

governor

0:26:14.480,0:26:20.960

i guess it's the governor's morning show

0:26:17.600,0:26:21.760

yeah i was i was mad because um you know

0:26:20.960,0:26:24.880

at that time

0:26:21.760,0:26:27.600

the um the bars were like

0:26:24.880,0:26:28.480

filling up and you know that time you

0:26:27.600,0:26:30.159

know we had

0:26:28.480,0:26:32.240

so a lot of things that were we do

0:26:30.159,0:26:33.360

differently here is essential workers

0:26:32.240,0:26:35.200

like we don't follow

0:26:33.360,0:26:37.279

the sisa guideline like if for example

0:26:35.200,0:26:39.600

francisco ever comes to the cmi

0:26:37.279,0:26:40.799

you will have to be in quarantine

0:26:39.600,0:26:44.240

there's no

0:26:40.799,0:26:46.480

there's no exemptions oh okay good

0:26:44.240,0:26:48.000

no exceptions not even for people coming

0:26:46.480,0:26:50.799

back home

0:26:48.000,0:26:52.000

um no um so i mean there's it's very

0:26:50.799,0:26:54.880

very strict i mean

0:26:52.000,0:26:55.919

we we basically say you have to be

0:26:54.880,0:26:58.080

really critical

0:26:55.919,0:26:59.360

to avoid i mean number one it's five

0:26:58.080,0:27:02.400

days you know

0:26:59.360,0:27:05.120

you're here to do work you're saying um

0:27:02.400,0:27:06.000

and just for to clarify even our medical

0:27:05.120,0:27:08.159

doctors are

0:27:06.000,0:27:09.360

in quarantine they have to face it if

0:27:08.159,0:27:11.360

they're not uh

0:27:09.360,0:27:13.520

in you know doing like for example if

0:27:11.360,0:27:15.840

they're transporting a patient we get it

0:27:13.520,0:27:17.440

you know we we expect them but they have

0:27:15.840,0:27:18.080

to be tested they have to stay home

0:27:17.440,0:27:19.600

first

0:27:18.080,0:27:21.360

and until they get the result they can

0:27:19.600,0:27:23.039

go back to work but they have to be

0:27:21.360,0:27:25.919

really scheduled to work

0:27:23.039,0:27:27.760

so we verify you know their their

0:27:25.919,0:27:28.720

supervisors hey is this person scheduled

0:27:27.760,0:27:30.960

to work and they said

0:27:28.720,0:27:32.799

yes he has to go to work then we would

0:27:30.960,0:27:34.640

say okay then he can you know get off

0:27:32.799,0:27:37.520

quarantine but otherwise

0:27:34.640,0:27:37.919

um doctors dentists whatever you are you

0:27:37.520,0:27:40.000

know

0:27:37.919,0:27:42.080

you go straight into burning and you win

0:27:40.000,0:27:44.720

and you complete the five days

0:27:42.080,0:27:46.640

you mentioned uh enforcement that the

0:27:44.720,0:27:47.279

governor's task force was helping with

0:27:46.640,0:27:49.440

that

0:27:47.279,0:27:50.640

what does that look like i imagine that

0:27:49.440,0:27:52.559

might have been one of the most

0:27:50.640,0:27:55.760

challenging pieces of this

0:27:52.559,0:27:58.799

oh yeah um

0:27:55.760,0:28:00.720

i mean like i think that's where the the

0:27:58.799,0:28:02.080

you know the different uh words that

0:28:00.720,0:28:03.840

they describe me as well

0:28:02.080,0:28:05.520

because i'm the one telling them gail

0:28:03.840,0:28:07.520

enforced this

0:28:05.520,0:28:09.039

um you know it's it's a collaborative

0:28:07.520,0:28:12.000

effort of all agencies

0:28:09.039,0:28:12.320

um so it's basically we are in there you

0:28:12.000,0:28:16.080

know

0:28:12.320,0:28:17.360

um for example in regards to let's say

0:28:16.080,0:28:19.440

an establishment a business

0:28:17.360,0:28:21.679

establishment uh once

0:28:19.440,0:28:22.480

you know wants to be identified as a

0:28:21.679,0:28:25.360

compliant

0:28:22.480,0:28:26.240

business establishment um it will be our

0:28:25.360,0:28:29.520

agency

0:28:26.240,0:28:33.440

you know following the the guidelines of

0:28:29.520,0:28:36.080

our from basically that was issued by us

0:28:33.440,0:28:37.279

and then you have of course you know uh

0:28:36.080,0:28:40.080

public works

0:28:37.279,0:28:40.399

in regards to uh you know capacity you

0:28:40.080,0:28:42.320

know

0:28:40.399,0:28:43.440

of the of the establishment so those are

0:28:42.320,0:28:45.440

the things that

0:28:43.440,0:28:47.360

that the enforcement gets involved i

0:28:45.440,0:28:50.559

mean it's basically the task force of

0:28:47.360,0:28:52.480

different agencies and um you know

0:28:50.559,0:28:54.320

ensuring that people comply

0:28:52.480,0:28:56.080

that's uh it's been really it's been

0:28:54.320,0:29:00.720

really really good to be honest with you

0:28:56.080,0:29:03.120

i mean it's it's um been really helpful

0:29:00.720,0:29:05.279

anybody that enters the cnmi are

0:29:03.120,0:29:08.320

required to go through quarantine

0:29:05.279,0:29:11.600

or only the ones that tested or

0:29:08.320,0:29:14.640

have signs of a result of

0:29:11.600,0:29:17.919

symptoms possible symptoms that you

0:29:14.640,0:29:20.320

choose to quarantine from the airport no

0:29:17.919,0:29:21.120

um so everyone is required to fill out a

0:29:20.320,0:29:24.320

declaration

0:29:21.120,0:29:24.880

form upon uh before arrival that's

0:29:24.320,0:29:27.520

actually

0:29:24.880,0:29:28.240

announced in the united um you know uh

0:29:27.520,0:29:30.320

website

0:29:28.240,0:29:32.480

you can see that and it tells

0:29:30.320,0:29:34.159

individuals if you're flying to cnmi you

0:29:32.480,0:29:35.360

have to fill out this uh cinema

0:29:34.159,0:29:37.440

declaration form

0:29:35.360,0:29:39.039

it's the governor's website that's the

0:29:37.440,0:29:41.360

form where you can find it

0:29:39.039,0:29:42.159

but when you when you do that one of the

0:29:41.360,0:29:45.200

things that

0:29:42.159,0:29:47.360

basically uh you're consenting to

0:29:45.200,0:29:49.200

is that you will be tested on arrival

0:29:47.360,0:29:52.480

and tested on day five

0:29:49.200,0:29:55.360

and you're also consenting to quarantine

0:29:52.480,0:29:56.320

so um you're you arrive you're you're

0:29:55.360,0:29:58.240

signing your

0:29:56.320,0:30:01.039

you're kind of like your life away for

0:29:58.240,0:30:01.039

five days

0:30:01.279,0:30:08.000

so yes and so the um

0:30:05.919,0:30:09.440

the thing about it is um you know the

0:30:08.000,0:30:12.080

reason why

0:30:09.440,0:30:13.120

we don't we are we're very strict about

0:30:12.080,0:30:15.520

this is because

0:30:13.120,0:30:17.120

our data shows and that's great one of

0:30:15.520,0:30:19.279

the things that we did too is because

0:30:17.120,0:30:21.200

when we did the cinema declaration forum

0:30:19.279,0:30:22.960

is that we wanted to collect data we

0:30:21.200,0:30:24.720

wanted to make sure we have data

0:30:22.960,0:30:25.919

available that shows you know how

0:30:24.720,0:30:27.760

effective are we

0:30:25.919,0:30:29.200

doing this is this something you know

0:30:27.760,0:30:30.559

are we doing this just for the sake of

0:30:29.200,0:30:32.480

doing this are we doing this because

0:30:30.559,0:30:32.960

there's a reason and it shows data shows

0:30:32.480,0:30:35.440

that

0:30:32.960,0:30:36.559

and that's what what we have seen is

0:30:35.440,0:30:38.880

that people

0:30:36.559,0:30:41.600

even when they're when they have a pcr

0:30:38.880,0:30:44.960

test from within 72 hours

0:30:41.600,0:30:45.520

prior to arrival they have been testing

0:30:44.960,0:30:48.399

positive

0:30:45.520,0:30:50.320

we have several essential workers under

0:30:48.399,0:30:53.360

the sisa guidelines

0:30:50.320,0:30:56.240

that have shown to be positive

0:30:53.360,0:30:57.679

on date of arrival and we've also seen

0:30:56.240,0:30:59.760

individuals that have tested

0:30:57.679,0:31:02.080

negative on date of arrival and then

0:30:59.760,0:31:04.720

tested positive on day five

0:31:02.080,0:31:05.360

so so we are seeing this in you know

0:31:04.720,0:31:07.360

this

0:31:05.360,0:31:08.640

we have the data that shows that these

0:31:07.360,0:31:10.480

are the risks

0:31:08.640,0:31:13.200

and these are individuals that have no

0:31:10.480,0:31:15.279

symptoms so there are people that

0:31:13.200,0:31:16.880

would probably you know but they are

0:31:15.279,0:31:19.840

they are infectious and that's

0:31:16.880,0:31:20.720

that's the scary part right um so we

0:31:19.840,0:31:23.760

needed to

0:31:20.720,0:31:25.919

um to make sure that um you know

0:31:23.760,0:31:26.960

for in order for us to sleep at night we

0:31:25.919,0:31:29.919

know that

0:31:26.960,0:31:31.679

anyone that comes in is a is a risk to

0:31:29.919,0:31:32.880

our community and we just need to do

0:31:31.679,0:31:36.159

this

0:31:32.880,0:31:38.320

um you reference the cisa guidelines

0:31:36.159,0:31:39.519

what it can you oh so that's the

0:31:38.320,0:31:42.399

homeland security

0:31:39.519,0:31:43.760

the um department of homeland security

0:31:42.399,0:31:44.640

from the u.s department of homeland

0:31:43.760,0:31:47.519

security

0:31:44.640,0:31:48.399

that issues what they call a cyber uh

0:31:47.519,0:31:51.120

information

0:31:48.399,0:31:53.440

uh security something uh alert or

0:31:51.120,0:31:56.080

something it starts it's eisa

0:31:53.440,0:31:57.760

um basically lists of essential workers

0:31:56.080,0:31:59.279

so if you qualify for this you are

0:31:57.760,0:32:01.519

considered essential

0:31:59.279,0:32:02.480

and so a lot of a lot of individuals who

0:32:01.519,0:32:05.519

come in

0:32:02.480,0:32:07.200

say well i fall into this category

0:32:05.519,0:32:08.559

and we're not the only one in fact i was

0:32:07.200,0:32:11.600

at a call one time in

0:32:08.559,0:32:13.600

the astor meeting and they said this

0:32:11.600,0:32:15.840

health official from kentucky said we

0:32:13.600,0:32:18.480

don't follow sisa guidelines either so

0:32:15.840,0:32:20.480

so it's not it's it's really up to this

0:32:18.480,0:32:20.960

the state or territory to decide whether

0:32:20.480,0:32:24.080

or not

0:32:20.960,0:32:26.960

to honor it yeah

0:32:24.080,0:32:29.919

um i understand that there you may this

0:32:26.960,0:32:31.519

the cnmi may still have some

0:32:29.919,0:32:33.360

cares act funding available through the

0:32:31.519,0:32:35.760

office of insular affairs

0:32:33.360,0:32:36.720

roughly i want to say uh maybe a million

0:32:35.760,0:32:39.120

and a half

0:32:36.720,0:32:40.159

is that do you have plans uh is that

0:32:39.120,0:32:43.200

something you've already

0:32:40.159,0:32:45.840

applied for or is that something

0:32:43.200,0:32:47.840

that's still outstanding and uh where do

0:32:45.840,0:32:49.440

where do you need um assistance how it

0:32:47.840,0:32:50.320

sounds like you're you're managing very

0:32:49.440,0:32:52.559

well but

0:32:50.320,0:32:54.000

are there areas where you need um

0:32:52.559,0:32:56.799

further support yeah

0:32:54.000,0:32:57.360

um thank you tanya i'm really you know

0:32:56.799,0:32:59.440

one of the

0:32:57.360,0:33:01.279

uh one of the things that we discussed

0:32:59.440,0:33:04.720

is the um

0:33:01.279,0:33:05.919

uh for the germ free um basically it's a

0:33:04.720,0:33:09.200

lab in a box

0:33:05.919,0:33:11.600

uh kind of uh so it's a it's

0:33:09.200,0:33:12.480

i it's like a mobile clinic but it's

0:33:11.600,0:33:15.600

more lab

0:33:12.480,0:33:17.440

laboratory that that can be brought in

0:33:15.600,0:33:19.279

we want we were a little bit you know

0:33:17.440,0:33:21.760

one of the things that um

0:33:19.279,0:33:23.519

always on the top of our minds is um you

0:33:21.760,0:33:25.440

know our cms i mean

0:33:23.519,0:33:27.519

back in 2012 we almost lost

0:33:25.440,0:33:30.799

certification from medicare

0:33:27.519,0:33:34.720

um for our hospital facility um our

0:33:30.799,0:33:37.919

our lab staff need to separate what's

0:33:34.720,0:33:38.320

for surveillance and what's for hospital

0:33:37.919,0:33:41.679

um

0:33:38.320,0:33:44.960

eventually and so we we needed to try to

0:33:41.679,0:33:47.840

get another lab uh you know a lab

0:33:44.960,0:33:48.080

area um and it's basically it's quick

0:33:47.840,0:33:49.840

and

0:33:48.080,0:33:52.480

so that's why we're talking about what

0:33:49.840,0:33:54.960

they call the germ-free lab

0:33:52.480,0:33:55.679

that will be just you know shipped over

0:33:54.960,0:33:58.640

here

0:33:55.679,0:34:00.320

has all the um you know the specs for

0:33:58.640,0:34:03.039

operating a laboratory

0:34:00.320,0:34:04.080

and so that our staff can separate

0:34:03.039,0:34:06.960

themselves from

0:34:04.080,0:34:08.800

the uh diagnostic and again you know one

0:34:06.960,0:34:11.679

of the things that we were doing since

0:34:08.800,0:34:13.839

um because we're a because of our our

0:34:11.679,0:34:17.599

our numbers because of our

0:34:13.839,0:34:21.040

um our situation here in the cnmi

0:34:17.599,0:34:23.760

um people are now accessing care people

0:34:21.040,0:34:25.200

are going back to the new normal and

0:34:23.760,0:34:27.359

what we have seen

0:34:25.200,0:34:29.040

and i i believe i've heard this also

0:34:27.359,0:34:31.800

from the state of hawaii

0:34:29.040,0:34:34.320

where there's um there's an increase in

0:34:31.800,0:34:35.599

hospitalizations for other cases so it's

0:34:34.320,0:34:38.639

not so much

0:34:35.599,0:34:41.359

coveted we are talking about you know

0:34:38.639,0:34:42.639

uh individuals who are also getting sick

0:34:41.359,0:34:45.040

with other

0:34:42.639,0:34:46.879

diseases and we need to take care of

0:34:45.040,0:34:49.520

them and we just want to make sure

0:34:46.879,0:34:51.040

that when a test is going to be

0:34:49.520,0:34:54.079

conducted

0:34:51.040,0:34:57.760

for laboratory tests for a patient

0:34:54.079,0:35:01.280

in the hospital that it does not

0:34:57.760,0:35:04.720

uh mix well with you know basically the

0:35:01.280,0:35:06.960

the surveillance doesn't uh trump the uh

0:35:04.720,0:35:08.400

the uh the test that's gonna be done for

0:35:06.960,0:35:12.560

the inpatient

0:35:08.400,0:35:14.320

side um we i never asked the question

0:35:12.560,0:35:18.160

but how many tests have you done

0:35:14.320,0:35:20.560

so far and and how what's the what's

0:35:18.160,0:35:24.160

your current rate of testing

0:35:20.560,0:35:26.800

so um we have about i believe 29

0:35:24.160,0:35:27.839

quite a lot i mean we did we did the cbt

0:35:26.800,0:35:29.760

testing

0:35:27.839,0:35:31.040

um the community community-based testing

0:35:29.760,0:35:34.240

was done around

0:35:31.040,0:35:37.680

um i believe april may and then

0:35:34.240,0:35:41.200

um you know the ones from korea

0:35:37.680,0:35:43.359

right um that was a test kit that

0:35:41.200,0:35:45.040

was high in volume you know we were able

0:35:43.359,0:35:47.920

to do it we were able to

0:35:45.040,0:35:49.040

to conduct testing in a high uh higher

0:35:47.920,0:35:51.839

volume than

0:35:49.040,0:35:53.359

than the gene expert and the abbott id

0:35:51.839,0:35:54.320

those are the ones that were given the

0:35:53.359,0:35:56.560

e-way

0:35:54.320,0:35:58.480

so somebody who's conduct you know if

0:35:56.560,0:36:00.720

we're going to conduct a cbt

0:35:58.480,0:36:02.000

testing it's easier because we were

0:36:00.720,0:36:04.720

talking about 98

0:36:02.000,0:36:05.760

uh specimen in a well that can be

0:36:04.720,0:36:08.079

processed right away

0:36:05.760,0:36:09.440

you know um it takes it takes hours for

0:36:08.079,0:36:12.160

the lab staff to

0:36:09.440,0:36:12.960

to to monitor it and and do the testing

0:36:12.160,0:36:16.240

but

0:36:12.960,0:36:18.160

but it it does allow for us to do a mass

0:36:16.240,0:36:19.359

testing so that's what that's what we

0:36:18.160,0:36:22.800

did and

0:36:19.359,0:36:24.320

um you know when you know we did the cbt

0:36:22.800,0:36:26.960

testing to throw out you know

0:36:24.320,0:36:29.359

number one um we had our clusters we've

0:36:26.960,0:36:31.040

identified the clusters early in the

0:36:29.359,0:36:32.800

and that's one one of the great things

0:36:31.040,0:36:35.200

about the contact tracing that they did

0:36:32.800,0:36:38.079

it did identify the cluster early

0:36:35.200,0:36:38.400

um but we also wanted to say you know

0:36:38.079,0:36:39.520

what

0:36:38.400,0:36:41.359

well what about the rest of the

0:36:39.520,0:36:42.880

community is it really not out there is

0:36:41.359,0:36:45.119

it just within the cluster

0:36:42.880,0:36:46.240

so we kind of like you know uh seeing a

0:36:45.119,0:36:47.920

phillips uh

0:36:46.240,0:36:49.359

island there you know through a fishnet

0:36:47.920,0:36:51.599

you know and say hey

0:36:49.359,0:36:53.119

where where's the you know where is

0:36:51.599,0:36:55.680

covid in our island

0:36:53.119,0:36:56.480

so we did identify a couple of cases

0:36:55.680,0:36:59.839

from that

0:36:56.480,0:37:02.160

and um and so um yeah i mean you know

0:36:59.839,0:37:03.119

testing we have not done cbt testing in

0:37:02.160,0:37:06.079

a while

0:37:03.119,0:37:07.520

um one of the reasons why like i said

0:37:06.079,0:37:10.960

earlier was that

0:37:07.520,0:37:12.160

um people needed to be tested they have

0:37:10.960,0:37:15.280

access to testing

0:37:12.160,0:37:18.880

um you know um it's uh we do

0:37:15.280,0:37:20.400

if it's um um so if you if they have

0:37:18.880,0:37:21.760

symptoms they can definitely go to

0:37:20.400,0:37:24.000

provider

0:37:21.760,0:37:26.640

you know they the affordability is not

0:37:24.000,0:37:30.960

an issue that's what i wanted to say

0:37:26.640,0:37:34.800

yeah um going forward

0:37:30.960,0:37:37.359

uh do you have any any words of

0:37:34.800,0:37:39.599

recommendation that are broad for the

0:37:37.359,0:37:41.839

government for for for the population

0:37:39.599,0:37:43.599

and then maybe for for folks like us who

0:37:41.839,0:37:47.680

are on the federal side who

0:37:43.599,0:37:51.200

are looking for ways to support the cnmi

0:37:47.680,0:37:53.359

so um you know i think it's um

0:37:51.200,0:37:55.200

i know that it's well first of all it's

0:37:53.359,0:37:58.320

november right um

0:37:55.200,0:38:00.240

you know testing and and vaccines

0:37:58.320,0:38:02.880

are well at least the vaccines are

0:38:00.240,0:38:05.599

coming treatments you know we have uh

0:38:02.880,0:38:07.359

we're getting the antibody treatment uh

0:38:05.599,0:38:09.520

it's only 10 but it's still you know

0:38:07.359,0:38:13.040

it's it's a it's a treatment that's

0:38:09.520,0:38:15.680

ready um you know there's i

0:38:13.040,0:38:16.480

wish the population you know be patient

0:38:15.680,0:38:19.280

don't want the

0:38:16.480,0:38:20.880

population to be patient you know i know

0:38:19.280,0:38:23.119

that um

0:38:20.880,0:38:24.800

it's hard it's been hard for the last

0:38:23.119,0:38:26.720

several months but

0:38:24.800,0:38:28.720

we have one of the things that we're

0:38:26.720,0:38:30.560

very fortunate here is because we're

0:38:28.720,0:38:32.400

able to contain it

0:38:30.560,0:38:34.880

um people are getting back to their

0:38:32.400,0:38:38.240

normal lives here in the cnmi

0:38:34.880,0:38:38.640

um we want to stay like that you know

0:38:38.240,0:38:41.280

not

0:38:38.640,0:38:41.680

to go back to march or april where we

0:38:41.280,0:38:44.160

had

0:38:41.680,0:38:45.599

um you know we were very very worried

0:38:44.160,0:38:48.240

and and

0:38:45.599,0:38:48.960

we had the increase in cases uh you know

0:38:48.240,0:38:51.280

initially

0:38:48.960,0:38:52.320

um like that but and it's from the

0:38:51.280,0:38:55.520

community

0:38:52.320,0:38:57.119

so yeah we just um you know the vaccines

0:38:55.520,0:39:00.480

are coming i think that's

0:38:57.119,0:39:01.839

if anything that is the it's a matter of

0:39:00.480,0:39:04.160

having the vaccines

0:39:01.839,0:39:05.839

having the ability to continue to

0:39:04.160,0:39:08.880

practice the three w's

0:39:05.839,0:39:10.480

we just need to be patient and um you

0:39:08.880,0:39:14.320

know we'll get there but um

0:39:10.480,0:39:16.960

so far um i believe people are

0:39:14.320,0:39:18.480

are very um i know that sometimes i feel

0:39:16.960,0:39:20.960

like their guards are down

0:39:18.480,0:39:23.359

because of of the because of the less

0:39:20.960,0:39:26.880

numbers or the low numbers that we have

0:39:23.359,0:39:29.200

um but um you know i think we're

0:39:26.880,0:39:30.160

we just need to be to do our due

0:39:29.200,0:39:32.240

diligence and

0:39:30.160,0:39:33.680

be vigilant about you know protecting

0:39:32.240,0:39:36.400

our community and

0:39:33.680,0:39:37.119

just hanging there that's all i can do

0:39:36.400,0:39:39.200

yeah

0:39:37.119,0:39:40.800

and and how about flights in terms of

0:39:39.200,0:39:41.520

flights that are coming back into the

0:39:40.800,0:39:44.079

cnmi

0:39:41.520,0:39:46.000

are those i have you from a health

0:39:44.079,0:39:46.640

perspective restricted some of that

0:39:46.000,0:39:48.880

entry

0:39:46.640,0:39:51.119

or limited some of that or are you

0:39:48.880,0:39:54.400

pretty much up to

0:39:51.119,0:39:56.480

to normal um you know i

0:39:54.400,0:39:58.160

it it's actually one of the things that

0:39:56.480,0:40:01.119

we're going to be discussing soon

0:39:58.160,0:40:02.560

um you know because um we are seeing a

0:40:01.119,0:40:05.280

lot of numbers coming

0:40:02.560,0:40:06.160

and and we're seeing the numbers in the

0:40:05.280,0:40:09.280

in the u.s

0:40:06.160,0:40:11.440

and in guam and you know

0:40:09.280,0:40:13.839

again it's one of the things that still

0:40:11.440,0:40:14.480

worry us you know even if somebody comes

0:40:13.839,0:40:17.440

from

0:40:14.480,0:40:18.240

you know from the flight um you know if

0:40:17.440,0:40:20.720

they are

0:40:18.240,0:40:22.400

if they get worse you know with their

0:40:20.720,0:40:23.200

with with the kovitz so far we've been

0:40:22.400,0:40:25.520

lucky

0:40:23.200,0:40:26.960

but if they do um you know require

0:40:25.520,0:40:28.800

hospitalization

0:40:26.960,0:40:30.480

that puts our staff you know our health

0:40:28.800,0:40:33.359

care workers at risk and that

0:40:30.480,0:40:33.839

you know at the end of the day um it's

0:40:33.359,0:40:35.839

our

0:40:33.839,0:40:36.880

you know and that that that healthcare

0:40:35.839,0:40:41.040

worker has to go home

0:40:36.880,0:40:42.640

too so it does you know require that um

0:40:41.040,0:40:44.800

we have to start thinking about you know

0:40:42.640,0:40:46.880

how do we stop that i mean

0:40:44.800,0:40:48.480

i know that the governor had once

0:40:46.880,0:40:48.960

stopped the flights from coming in

0:40:48.480,0:40:50.640

around

0:40:48.960,0:40:52.160

when we had our first case and i believe

0:40:50.640,0:40:53.359

it's about a month that he asked the

0:40:52.160,0:40:56.160

airline to stop

0:40:53.359,0:40:57.440

you know entry into the cmi i don't know

0:40:56.160,0:41:01.680

if we can do that

0:40:57.440,0:41:03.359

but i still think that you know um

0:41:01.680,0:41:06.000

i think there's a lot still a lot of

0:41:03.359,0:41:09.280

misunderstanding on what the testing is

0:41:06.000,0:41:11.440

you know here um i think people don't

0:41:09.280,0:41:14.079

necessarily want to be tested

0:41:11.440,0:41:15.760

um that's the thing that really it's

0:41:14.079,0:41:18.000

kind of scary because

0:41:15.760,0:41:20.160

um you know because they don't want to

0:41:18.000,0:41:22.800

be tested they don't they feel like

0:41:20.160,0:41:24.240

like they say i got tested so why am i

0:41:22.800,0:41:25.280

you know why am i getting this

0:41:24.240,0:41:28.480

restriction

0:41:25.280,0:41:31.280

but it's not a pregnancy test it's not

0:41:28.480,0:41:33.200

it's it's still i mean it's it when you

0:41:31.280,0:41:34.000

get tested is you're tested for that

0:41:33.200,0:41:36.000

moment

0:41:34.000,0:41:37.280

when we collected the specimen that it

0:41:36.000,0:41:38.319

doesn't you know you don't have the

0:41:37.280,0:41:41.040

virus

0:41:38.319,0:41:42.000

but um you know walk down the street and

0:41:41.040,0:41:44.000

pick it up

0:41:42.000,0:41:45.599

exactly and that and that's the thing

0:41:44.000,0:41:48.640

that that i think some of

0:41:45.599,0:41:51.760

uh some of our some of our people here

0:41:48.640,0:41:54.160

um think that that that's something that

0:41:51.760,0:41:56.160

um can be avoided you know i mean when

0:41:54.160,0:41:59.359

they're talking about the economic count

0:41:56.160,0:42:01.520

you know opening the the economy

0:41:59.359,0:42:02.640

um one of the things that was being

0:42:01.520,0:42:04.720

brought up was that

0:42:02.640,0:42:05.920

well you know why do they need to be

0:42:04.720,0:42:09.920

tested on

0:42:05.920,0:42:12.640

tested and it was like why not you know

0:42:09.920,0:42:13.040

um yeah so i mean those are the things

0:42:12.640,0:42:16.319

that

0:42:13.040,0:42:18.319

that come into discussion so i

0:42:16.319,0:42:19.760

i just hope that you know when we do

0:42:18.319,0:42:21.680

this um

0:42:19.760,0:42:23.599

we either and i mentioned this to

0:42:21.680,0:42:26.800

francisco is that

0:42:23.599,0:42:30.000

we either do the same thing um you know

0:42:26.800,0:42:32.960

um same thing same protection same

0:42:30.000,0:42:33.839

similar protection or better protection

0:42:32.960,0:42:36.240

but not less

0:42:33.839,0:42:38.079

protection for the community um do you

0:42:36.240,0:42:39.839

have any final words that you wanted to

0:42:38.079,0:42:41.680

share with us i know you're very busy

0:42:39.839,0:42:44.960

and we appreciate the time that you have

0:42:41.680,0:42:47.280

given us thus far my my concern is

0:42:44.960,0:42:48.000

is always been you know what about the

0:42:47.280,0:42:50.880

people that

0:42:48.000,0:42:51.839

want to return home there's for a long

0:42:50.880,0:42:54.400

time

0:42:51.839,0:42:54.880

people have gone and you know and they

0:42:54.400,0:42:56.560

were

0:42:54.880,0:42:58.000

you know especially in the philippines

0:42:56.560,0:43:00.480

like there were some in the philippines

0:42:58.000,0:43:02.000

there were there were some in the um

0:43:00.480,0:43:04.000

that were in guam there were some in

0:43:02.000,0:43:07.280

hawaii in the states that were stuck

0:43:04.000,0:43:11.040

because they wanted to come home and so

0:43:07.280,0:43:13.760

the thing about it is that um you know

0:43:11.040,0:43:15.359

i i i mean i get i get it i i mean i

0:43:13.760,0:43:18.160

think yeah we need to do that

0:43:15.359,0:43:19.599

but but like i said like i mentioned in

0:43:18.160,0:43:22.480

regards to the 14-day

0:43:19.599,0:43:23.280

quarantine you know you have the 14-day

0:43:22.480,0:43:25.920

quarantine

0:43:23.280,0:43:26.720

but if you have the ability to test then

0:43:25.920,0:43:28.560

test

0:43:26.720,0:43:29.760

right so that's what we did we were

0:43:28.560,0:43:32.240

testing is like

0:43:29.760,0:43:32.960

because a lot of it too um watch which

0:43:32.240,0:43:36.319

something that

0:43:32.960,0:43:39.280

you know this uh this covid

0:43:36.319,0:43:41.119

has not been able to really identify and

0:43:39.280,0:43:42.800

that's also the scary part again going

0:43:41.119,0:43:44.800

back to chc

0:43:42.800,0:43:46.319

that we're also responsible for

0:43:44.800,0:43:48.319

everything we're we're just one health

0:43:46.319,0:43:50.480

system so we manage also

0:43:48.319,0:43:52.160

behavioral health and one of the things

0:43:50.480,0:43:54.640

that really worried me was

0:43:52.160,0:43:56.480

the mental health of individuals that

0:43:54.640,0:43:59.520

are going to be affected

0:43:56.480,0:44:00.720

by you know not coming home and even

0:43:59.520,0:44:03.680

even in the quarantine

0:44:00.720,0:44:05.520

area our team is there our team is there

0:44:03.680,0:44:07.680

we're available whether it's mental

0:44:05.520,0:44:08.800

health support you know um health

0:44:07.680,0:44:11.359

support um

0:44:08.800,0:44:12.160

medical health support we're there even

0:44:11.359,0:44:15.280

um

0:44:12.160,0:44:15.760

you know because it's yeah it's it's

0:44:15.280,0:44:18.319

hard

0:44:15.760,0:44:20.240

it's hard to say no and i get but i get

0:44:18.319,0:44:22.400

it why people are coming home people are

0:44:20.240,0:44:24.560

coming home because people are dying too

0:44:22.400,0:44:26.400

people are coming home to to to visit

0:44:24.560,0:44:27.520

their their mothers because

0:44:26.400,0:44:29.760

and that's the thing about it it's a

0:44:27.520,0:44:30.640

balance of culture right culture and

0:44:29.760,0:44:33.520

what's happening

0:44:30.640,0:44:36.079

here and and i think um i was asked

0:44:33.520,0:44:38.319

earlier that i mean around maybe

0:44:36.079,0:44:39.760

around july or august you know what

0:44:38.319,0:44:42.160

about compassionate

0:44:39.760,0:44:43.440

uh uh you know exemptions can you allow

0:44:42.160,0:44:46.560

people to come back

0:44:43.440,0:44:49.200

and just go to the funeral i said so

0:44:46.560,0:44:50.400

the reason why we did our our plan our

0:44:49.200,0:44:52.640

protocol is

0:44:50.400,0:44:53.760

you get tested on day one get tested

0:44:52.640,0:44:56.240

again on day five

0:44:53.760,0:44:57.680

then you're free to go guess what if

0:44:56.240,0:44:59.119

you're here for a funeral

0:44:57.680,0:45:01.599

you're gonna have to go through that

0:44:59.119,0:45:03.520

same thing and you know it's

0:45:01.599,0:45:05.599

and we because what we're seeing for

0:45:03.520,0:45:06.640

example in some other jurisdictions

0:45:05.599,0:45:09.520

where

0:45:06.640,0:45:10.160

where when it comes to funerals they're

0:45:09.520,0:45:11.920

you know they

0:45:10.160,0:45:13.920

they get together and then you have a

0:45:11.920,0:45:16.079

cluster you have an outbreak in that

0:45:13.920,0:45:19.920

cluster because i mean because of that

0:45:16.079,0:45:20.480

so we my i guess what i'm saying is that

0:45:19.920,0:45:24.319

i think

0:45:20.480,0:45:26.720

we have the tools we have we are ready

0:45:24.319,0:45:27.359

um you know at some point you're gonna

0:45:26.720,0:45:29.359

have to

0:45:27.359,0:45:30.560

take these in and you're gonna have to

0:45:29.359,0:45:32.480

detect them

0:45:30.560,0:45:34.079

but you're gonna have to treat them and

0:45:32.480,0:45:35.839

that's the thing about it is that i

0:45:34.079,0:45:36.720

think with the cares funding karazak

0:45:35.839,0:45:39.760

funding

0:45:36.720,0:45:43.200

we are we are armed we are armed

0:45:39.760,0:45:43.760

to fight this and um the concern of

0:45:43.200,0:45:45.760

course

0:45:43.760,0:45:46.960

my biggest concern of course is within

0:45:45.760,0:45:49.839

our community

0:45:46.960,0:45:51.599

that we don't spread it community

0:45:49.839,0:45:54.160

widespread is the biggest

0:45:51.599,0:45:55.599

that's when we're like oh you know

0:45:54.160,0:45:57.200

that's when maybe the government i'm

0:45:55.599,0:46:00.560

going to go the governor stop

0:45:57.200,0:46:01.760

but right now we have um we have people

0:46:00.560,0:46:04.079

coming in there's

0:46:01.760,0:46:05.359

there's projects that need to be done

0:46:04.079,0:46:07.520

there's um

0:46:05.359,0:46:08.640

things that need to be done and i and i

0:46:07.520,0:46:10.560

get it that people

0:46:08.640,0:46:12.079

are gonna be we're gonna have to find

0:46:10.560,0:46:14.319

we're gonna find these people

0:46:12.079,0:46:15.440

that are gonna be infected but what

0:46:14.319,0:46:17.119

we're going to do is we're going to make

0:46:15.440,0:46:20.240

sure that they don't affect others

0:46:17.119,0:46:23.680

in our community and that's um so

0:46:20.240,0:46:26.240

i i get it i mean but at the same time i

0:46:23.680,0:46:27.440

i do feel for the families that are

0:46:26.240,0:46:29.520

returning home

0:46:27.440,0:46:31.839

um you know whether they're saying

0:46:29.520,0:46:34.319

goodbye to their mom before they pass

0:46:31.839,0:46:35.359

you know i've you know we we try to

0:46:34.319,0:46:37.200

accommodate

0:46:35.359,0:46:38.400

but at the end of the day we're also

0:46:37.200,0:46:43.839

protecting the community

0:46:38.400,0:46:43.839

so i i get you francisco but

0:46:45.040,0:46:50.400

i know sorry no no um

0:46:48.400,0:46:53.359

it sounds like you've done a very good

0:46:50.400,0:46:56.560

job of a very difficult job and and so i

0:46:53.359,0:46:59.200

wanted to congratulate you on that

0:46:56.560,0:46:59.680

well you know i mean sorry francisco but

0:46:59.200,0:47:02.160

you know

0:46:59.680,0:47:02.960

francisco did ask me he did ask me he

0:47:02.160,0:47:04.480

says what are you

0:47:02.960,0:47:06.160

are you making sure that you're

0:47:04.480,0:47:08.400

protecting the cmi and i

0:47:06.160,0:47:10.000

and i and that's and that and the thing

0:47:08.400,0:47:12.800

about it is francisco has

0:47:10.000,0:47:14.240

family here and you know and that's the

0:47:12.800,0:47:16.720

thing about it that

0:47:14.240,0:47:17.839

that that really i do you know we do

0:47:16.720,0:47:20.240

this and i like i said

0:47:17.839,0:47:21.280

you know kudos to the rest of my team dr

0:47:20.240,0:47:24.559

tagella

0:47:21.280,0:47:27.440

subrado you know we have great people

0:47:24.559,0:47:28.319

heather um you know porsha they're all

0:47:27.440,0:47:31.040

out there

0:47:28.319,0:47:32.640

really trying to do the best they can to

0:47:31.040,0:47:35.680

protect our community and

0:47:32.640,0:47:38.240

um you know it's um we're doing this

0:47:35.680,0:47:39.920

and it i know that at times it's tough

0:47:38.240,0:47:42.880

but i believe that our the

0:47:39.920,0:47:43.680

way we design our protocol is to to make

0:47:42.880,0:47:45.520

it bearable

0:47:43.680,0:47:47.440

you know so that you can follow the

0:47:45.520,0:47:49.359

quarantine orders and you can

0:47:47.440,0:47:50.559

be able to you know to enjoy the time

0:47:49.359,0:47:52.240

with your family

0:47:50.559,0:47:54.880

um you know we're talking about

0:47:52.240,0:47:57.760

thanksgiving and the holidays coming up

0:47:54.880,0:47:59.440

um we will be able to do that because of

0:47:57.760,0:48:01.200

what we're already doing and and

0:47:59.440,0:48:02.880

we're very fortunate and we need to

0:48:01.200,0:48:05.520

continue to to do

0:48:02.880,0:48:07.440

our job and just be patient until we get

0:48:05.520,0:48:09.440

the vaccines until we get them

0:48:07.440,0:48:11.200

you know so we can make sure that our

0:48:09.440,0:48:13.200

our population is safe so that's

0:48:11.200,0:48:14.720

that's a key thing thank you francisco

0:48:13.200,0:48:15.920

for calling me in the middle of the

0:48:14.720,0:48:18.559

night to tell me that

0:48:15.920,0:48:18.559

we better make

0:48:18.960,0:48:25.839

that sure every effort you put in

0:48:22.559,0:48:28.079

is not going to be taken for granted

0:48:25.839,0:48:29.040

and we cannot thank you enough for all

0:48:28.079,0:48:32.160

the uh

0:48:29.040,0:48:36.880

and the team that are trying their best

0:48:32.160,0:48:40.480

to to prevent and keep our home safe and

0:48:36.880,0:48:43.599

and if there's anything i can offer for

0:48:40.480,0:48:45.440

at this moment is that i i will continue

0:48:43.599,0:48:49.839

to pray for everybody

0:48:45.440,0:48:49.839

safety and

0:48:56.480,0:48:59.440

you know let me let me tell you one of

0:48:57.839,0:49:00.800

the things that we were there when we

0:48:59.440,0:49:03.839

were and i mentioned that

0:49:00.800,0:49:06.079

to um the secret assistant secretary was

0:49:03.839,0:49:08.960

that when we were there in february

0:49:06.079,0:49:09.680

and the question that was asked was will

0:49:08.960,0:49:12.160

you

0:49:09.680,0:49:14.400

you know um what about you know sending

0:49:12.160,0:49:16.480

our lab specimen to guam

0:49:14.400,0:49:17.839

and one of the things that i mentioned

0:49:16.480,0:49:20.960

was that

0:49:17.839,0:49:22.319

all the islands the 6ua u.s apis they

0:49:20.960,0:49:24.160

were all

0:49:22.319,0:49:26.480

they have lab techs they have been

0:49:24.160,0:49:27.359

trained you just need to get them the

0:49:26.480,0:49:30.079

equipment

0:49:27.359,0:49:31.839

and that's thank you and i i gotta tell

0:49:30.079,0:49:34.160

you that that was really

0:49:31.839,0:49:35.359

the best thing that happened from you

0:49:34.160,0:49:39.040

know especially from

0:49:35.359,0:49:42.319

from doi to get that to all the six us

0:49:39.040,0:49:42.800

apis and have that ability capacity to

0:49:42.319,0:49:46.480

test

0:49:42.800,0:49:48.640

because imagine if if we don't

0:49:46.480,0:49:49.599

and somebody's walking around in our

0:49:48.640,0:49:52.079

community we

0:49:49.599,0:49:52.960

you know our population is small it's

0:49:52.079,0:49:56.079

very small

0:49:52.960,0:49:58.880

vulnerable um and so that was really

0:49:56.079,0:49:59.119

really really helpful for us yes yes and

0:49:58.880,0:50:01.599

i

0:49:59.119,0:50:02.720

i should um commend you know my own

0:50:01.599,0:50:04.240

supervisors and

0:50:02.720,0:50:05.760

and the assistant secretary for making

0:50:04.240,0:50:07.760

that decision uh

0:50:05.760,0:50:09.520

quickly it was it was done in in the

0:50:07.760,0:50:10.079

office of insular affairs even before

0:50:09.520,0:50:12.319

the

0:50:10.079,0:50:14.160

um cares act funding was available that

0:50:12.319,0:50:16.480

funding was made available through

0:50:14.160,0:50:17.280

um technical assistance funding and and

0:50:16.480,0:50:18.960

all of the

0:50:17.280,0:50:20.720

testing equipment was sent out to all

0:50:18.960,0:50:23.200

the island areas and it was

0:50:20.720,0:50:25.200

uh perfect timing because it was shortly

0:50:23.200,0:50:27.119

uh thereafter that

0:50:25.200,0:50:29.760

then the flights were shut down to many

0:50:27.119,0:50:33.839

of the islands or or severely restricted

0:50:29.760,0:50:35.520

uh so so that was good timing so yeah

0:50:33.839,0:50:37.040

thank you for bringing that up i i did

0:50:35.520,0:50:39.440

want to make a

0:50:37.040,0:50:40.400

kudos to my own uh leadership team at

0:50:39.440,0:50:44.079

oia

0:50:40.400,0:50:44.960

yeah thank you again thank you very much

0:50:44.079,0:50:47.760

esther

0:50:44.960,0:50:47.760

thank you guys

0:50:53.119,0:50:57.040

on monday an asia-pacific plane

0:50:55.200,0:51:00.000

chartered by the cinema government

0:50:57.040,0:51:01.200

brought in 10 ultra-cold freezers making

0:51:00.000,0:51:04.319

the cinema ready

0:51:01.200,0:51:06.880

to receive covet 19 vaccines we're

0:51:04.319,0:51:08.240

very fortunate that uh you know we were

0:51:06.880,0:51:11.280

able to obtain

0:51:08.240,0:51:14.400

um this equipment in korea

0:51:11.280,0:51:18.000

and be brought here in time uh before

0:51:14.400,0:51:20.720

all the the deep planning um happens

0:51:18.000,0:51:21.040

from the federal government so with this

0:51:20.720,0:51:24.800

it

0:51:21.040,0:51:26.640

uh puts cnn at um at a higher level

0:51:24.800,0:51:28.720

opportunity from exercises

0:51:26.640,0:51:32.240

familiarization and process

0:51:28.720,0:51:34.720

um that that we all need to adhere

0:51:32.240,0:51:36.800

um as what's presented by the federal

0:51:34.720,0:51:39.200

government cdc and hhs

0:51:36.800,0:51:51.839

to receive the kovit-19 vaccine here in

0:51:39.200,0:51:51.839

the cnmi

0:52:06.640,0:52:08.720

you