Dr Hoa Nguyen concerned that sudden surge could lead to hospitalization spike

Guam ( KUAM News):The recent surge in positive COVID-19 cases has the Governor’s Physician’s Advisory Group pleading with the community to continue to hold the line.

“We should be very much concerned on the positive rate on Guam,” strenuously said Dr. Hoa Nguyen, the PAG’s chairman. Just seven days after achieving adult herd immunity, and in the past four days Guam has recorded 111 positive cases of coronavirus, Dr. Nguyen said they surely didn’t see this coming.

“We expect some positives to go up, but as a trend in the past week or so. this is much more than we expected,” he shared.

Dr. Nguyen adds this recent spike in positives could now turn into a spike in hospitalizations. “We just expect for the worst – probably next week you will probably see more people in the hospital.”

That’s because a big number of recent positives he says have been unvaccinated individuals spreading it within their families.  One of the greatest concerns he has is the impact it’s having on children who aren’t eligible to join the Vacci-Nation. Dr. Nguyen says most of the kids he’s seen pop positive have been under 12.

“So we really ask the parents if you have questions about the vaccine, talk to your family. If people have children less than 12, you’ve got to protect them. You cannot afford to lose even one child because of the virus,” he said.

But what’s happening isn’t just about being vaccinated verses unvaccinated – it’s about the entire community holding the line. Although restrictions have been limited, Thursday night the Joint Information Center reminded the community to continue to wear their masks, stay home if you’re sick and away from others who are sick, and practice social distancing from people not in your household and around elderly family members.

Nguyen’s message was simple: “We all have to do our part.”