Guam's critical care system might hit breakpoint by next week

At the current 33 percent spread rate of Covid-19 infection, Guam’s critical care system is likely to hit its breakpoint by next week, if not sooner, Dr. Felix Cabrera said Monday.

“We are bending hard. But by aggressively slowing the spread rate, we might prevent a break,” Cabrera said in a web conference with reporters. “If we cut in half our current spread rate. Guam’s critical care system will have a chance to bend without breaking.”

While still alarming, the current daily spread rate of 33 percent is because of “our strong current efforts,” Cabrera said.

Of Guam’s 350 hospital beds, 250 capacity has been reached, leaving 100 unstaffed .

Guam has 27 confirmed cases with one death as of Monday. Additional results are expected tonight.

But it also could have been much worse had Guam not taken precautions from the beginning, said Cabrera, who represents the governor’s Physicians Advisory Group.

At Monday’s press conference, Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero also announced the extension of her public emergency declaration for 14 more days and expanded the public facility shutdown tin include parks and beaches in an effort to contain further spread of the virus.

“Everyone must take all our Governor’s orders and precautions advised very, very seriously,” Cabrera said. “Most important is strict social distancing and very frequent hygiene.”

More details to follow