Denorcey: Dededo is ideal locale for community COVID testing

Nurses from the Department of Public Health continued their canvassing in the Astumbo area today to prescreen individuals for their pilot community testing project set to get underway on Saturday.

A new trajectory and a new mission to search and destroy COVID. "Instead of them coming to our doctors and clinics we go out and find them and reach out to them," said Linda Unpingco Denorcey. She's leading the charge as Public Health's director, who says over the past two days they've been gathering their intel in preparation to test at least 100 residents.

"I had an opportunity to visit them because we did a walkthrough yesterday with all our collaborating partners, federal local and private," she explained.

Since Thursday, Public Health nurses have been prescreening residents in Sagan Linayan and lower Astumbo. Those with mild COVID-19 symptoms were given passes for testing on Saturday from 9am-12pm at the Astumbo Gym.

According to Public Health's dashboard there are a total of 42 confirmed COVID cases in Dededo with 37 released to isolation. Out of the total 140 confirmed cases, as of today, 47 percent are Chamorro, 40 percent Filipino, while almost 13 percent is from other ethnic backgrounds.

Denorcey says Dededo makes for an ideal location to start community testing, explaining, "As you know, Dededo is a very densely populated village so we know that the ethnic distribution of that area is really diverse. So it's not just Chamorro - we also have FSM, we have Filipinos, we have practically every ethnic representation. So what we want to do is we want to hit those areas."

Saturday's testing is on a voluntary basis. Additionally, residents who are bed ridden or disabled, public health will test them at home. Residents must wear a mask in the drive thru or walk in lines. The goal is to test as many people as possible to determine how widespread COVID might be in the community. Saturday's pilot project is only for residents around Astumbo, however, if you are experiencing symptoms related to COVID, you're urged to immediately contact your private physician.

If you don't have one, you are urged to contact Public Health's regional health centers to get tested.