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Dear friends and family, please take a few minutes of your time to read this information from my Nephew Bryan P. Fernandez:

As someone who works for a medical clinic, UNDOUBTEDLY, I will be one of the many front-liners diagnosed with the coronavirus.

What is going on in Italy at this very moment CAN EASILY BE OUR REALITY!

We are an island of almost 60,000 people, maybe more, with ONLY ONE HOSPITAL; ONE! A hospital not only for the island of Saipan, but for the entire CNMI! One hospital that only has 86 rooms. One hospital that can barely house our people in times of disaster. Let that sink in and let us reflect back to Typhoon Yutu. During that period in time, one would walk into our hospital and immediately notice that waiting areas were turned into makeshift rooms with only fabric separating patients from other patients.

Aside from caring for the living, our hospital can barely house the dead. Our hospital uses a shipping container as a makeshift morgue!

To add to that, the CNMI has THE HIGHEST RATE of diabetes; as of a 2016 study, about 18.7% of our population have the disease which (when you do the math) is approximately 11,220 people! Mind you, this number reflects ONLY DIAGNOSED INDIVIDUALS.

Why is this important you ask?

If you are unfamiliar with the disease, diabetes—especially uncontrolled and not medically managed—leads (simply put) to a s**t load of other medical problems.

Basically, 11,220 of our people’s health are ALREADY compromised. Add coronavirus to the equation and we have a medical crisis within the CNMI.

The questions we must ask ourselves during these crucial times are:

1. Is our hospital well-equipped for a medical crisis such as the coronavirus pandemic once it reaches the CNMI.

2. At a time when there is a global shortage on medical equipment/supplies, will our doctors and nurses of the CNMI be adequately prepared and protected to care for patients with the coronavirus.

3. Can a nurse take care of X number of newly admitted patients with the coronavirus on top of the 10 already-admitted patients she is caring for who suffer pre-existing medical conditions (a stroke, a heart attack, COPD, are recovering from surgery, was in a car accident, broke a leg, etc.).

4. Does our hospital have enough isolation rooms.

5. Does our hospital have enough equipment (in terms of intubation kits, oxygen tanks, respirators, ventilators, etc.) to aid a coronavirus patient when his viral pneumonia is at a critical point that he can no longer breathe on his own.

6. But most importantly, when worse comes to worse and our hospital is overwhelmed—WITHOUT A DOUBT IT WILL BE—and can no longer provide care for our loved ones affected by the coronavirus, can we stand by their side and watch them slowly die.

The only way for us to avoid this crisis, in the words of Dr. James Hofschneider is to, “ACT AS IF THE VIRUS IS ALREADY HERE AND EVERYONE AROUND YOU IS INFECTED.” How so? Like Dr. Emily Landon said, “All we have is distance.”

The reality is that we, as a people of the CNMI, are NOT IMMUNE to the coronavirus. We are equally at risk with the rest of the world. The coronavirus is out there, slowly creeping up on us, possibly already here, and it is CRUCIAL we practice self/social-isolation, social distancing, proper hand washing, and ALL that is necessary of us to contain this virus and slow—maybe even stop—its spread within the CNMI.

This isn’t to scare any of you or cause a panic in our community. Rather, it is to allow us to reflect on what is important and needed from each and everyone of us right here, right now at this very moment in time."

Thanks for reading and pls feel free to share!

Cuki Alvarez