Visitors industry remains vigilant

Administration officials say they're doing all they can to try and keep the deadly coronavirus from Guam's shores. Today they met with members of the Guam Hotel and Restaurant Association.

GHRA President Mary Rhodes coordinated the meeting with public health, the airport and customs and quarantine to go over the latest developments, which include the release of more than 30 visitors now staying at their hotels.

"These individuals who entered Guam prior to the ban have been cleared by the proper authorities and we are continuing to communicate together so that we will continue to monitor and remain vigilant," she said.

Safety protocols are well-established and have been referred to in the past. But the governor's chief of staff Tony Babauta said public concerns that their safety is being compromised to accommodate tourism are not true.


"It's not about protecting the visitor industry alone," he said. "Everything that we've been doing since day one, all the protocols that have been in place, all the interagency efforts that we've had locally and then bringing in our external stakeholders like the hotel and restaurant association and the airline and all of our communications and daily briefings with the federal government are to keep our island safe."

And while the administration says its keeping up with federal guidance, many on social media say they should be doing more.

"There are plans to bring more thermal scanners to Guam," Babauta said. "Right now we are relying on the travel ban that has been put into effect for foreign nationals coming from China. That is meant obviously to stop the flow. We've identified some of those technology gaps we think it would be a lot easier for us to prepare for this event and future events, and we're taking steps towards making sure that we shore up our assets like that at the airport."

Babauta said the rapid development of the coronavirus threat has officials nationwide scrambling to deal with it.

"We believe that we're doing all we are doing all we can to protect the community and to protect the island," Babauta said.