The Department of Public Health has launches more contact tracing investigations as the number of coronavirus cases continues to climb.

The total number of confirmed positive cases has jumped significantly. According to today's updated "situation report" there are now 8 new positive cases

. This is on top of the two positive cases reported last night by the Joint Information Center. This would mean in the past 24 hours there have been a total of ten new positive cases. According to the "situation report" two cases tested positive at Public Health's lab and were identified through contact tracing.

Two cases tested positive at Diagnostic Laboratory Services of DLS. Five cases tested positive at the Department of Defense (DOD). None of these nine cases reported contact to a confirmed case. One case tested positive at the Guam Memorial Hospital. This case reported household contact to a confirmed case.

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The "sit report" also indicates there is one hospitalization. Four of the new positive cases are women. Six are male. Five are from northern Guam. Two are from central Guam. Two are from southern Guam. The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on Guam as of 6pm is now 267.

According to Dr. Janna Manglona, the increases do not appear to be attributed to the recent cluster of 22 deployed airmen who violated their restricted movement orders and visited more than 30 establishments on Guam.

Rather, Dr. Manglona, a member of the Governor's Physicians Advisory Group and Public Health's Medical Director believes it's directly connected to when a decision was made to lift restrictions for quarantine.

"Instead of going to the facility which is tightly, tightly monitored we permitted people certain group of people to go home and quarantine and so do I think 100 percent of the people stayed in home quarantine no I do not. I didn't think that before but now we have people that have emergency releases from quarantine they were able to go to funerals, hospitals, obviously people want to see their loved ones, but what do they do when they get in the car and I know for a fact last week I saw a breach myself," she said.

Dr. Manglona hinted there could be yet another change in quarantine protocols, but for now. "Early on it was yeah, yeah, yeah wash your hands wear your mask. I'm telling you that quarantine, your mask, washing your hands, and if you quarantine as you're supposed to that's the best vaccine we have right now," she said.

Community drive-thru testing is scheduled for tomorrow at the Yigo Gym from 9am - 12noon. You do not have to have symptoms to get tested.