Guam went into a one-week lockdown at high noon today. The governor has imposed the most restrictive conditions to date, after a new COVID-related death, and single-day triple-digit surge in positive cases yesterday.

The executive order spelled out the reasons leading to the governor’s decision. It notes that the island returned to pcor3 only about a month ago, opening up almost all businesses and activities. Then just over four weeks later, on Aug. 16, because of a dramatic and significant increase in COVID-19 cases, the governor returned the island all the way back to PCOR 1. Then in the past seven days, we saw a 255 case increase and on Thursday, we recorded the highest single-day spike of 105 infections coupled with the first covid-related death in 129 days. The executive order also cites an alarming test positivity rate and a hospital whose COVID -19 facilities are now near capacity. Basically the governor is ordering all to stay at home, with even fewer exceptions than before.

Press Secretary Krystal Paco-San Agustin said non-essential government services will be suspended.

"This means suspension of all customer functions except those critical to health and safety of our community," she said. "No parks and beach use whatsoever. We ask that you refrain from that for at least the next week. Just one week and we’ll see how our numbers fare and we’ll proceed with further guidance. A lot of questions about banks because it is a GovGuam payday. Banks can remain open, I just clarified this with legal counsel, banks can remain open for today and tomorrow their normal hours, but on Monday they must start closing. They must close starting Monday rather."

She says they are aware there will be lots of questions, so a hotline has been set up, especially for businesses. Detailed guidance is also available on the public health website. The order will remain in effect until Aug. 28, unless extended by the governor.