By Pacific Island Times News Staff
While urging the community to “stay the course,” Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero today announced the partial lifting of restrictions on social gatherings as residents gear up for the holiday season.
Effective Saturday, the crowd limit for outdoor social gatherings will increase from 75 to 100 persons.
“This is the only change to Covid-19 restrictions I am making at this time under the advice and counsel of our healthcare experts,” the governor said in a video message.
Other safety measures, including the mask mandate, remain in place.
The governor said the “conservative” lifting of restrictions was based on “reassuring data” showing a deceleration of Covid-transmission that pushed down the Covid area risk score to 0.04 from 47.7 three months ago.
“Our Covid hospitalization admissions went from 85 down to 4. And over the last few weeks, we have been reporting fewer Covid-related deaths,” the governor said.
More than 127,000 of Guam’s 160,000 residents are fully vaccinated, including approximately 12,000 of the 12-to-17 age group, 17,000 children aged 5 to 11.
With more than 35,000 residents having received their booster shots, the community has “maximum protection" in place against the coronavirus, the governor said
“Now, I want to make clear that as we enter a New Year and as we near the second-year mark of this ongoing crisis, we are not yet out of the woods,” she said. “We are monitoring a new variant called omicron, which is highly transmissible.”
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The governor advised residents to celebrate the holidays with “sustained momentum by staying the course." She urged residents to continue testing for the virus and tracking close contacts.
She added that monoclonal antibody treatments will continue to be provided to ensure quicker recovery of those who test positive for Covid.
“Again, I cannot stress enough that we have the tools to protect ourselves and the ones we love from hospitalization and the worst-case scenario - preventable death," Loen Guerrero said.
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