People on Guam are being encouraged to stay vigilant and adhere to restrictions on social gathering during the upcoming Thanksgiving celebrations.
Covid-19 testing underway in Guam. Photo: Governor Lou Leon Guerrero
The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases continues to climb towards 7000, with 106 deaths reported to date.
Governor Lou Leon-Guerrero urged the public to adhere to health measures such as staying in household bubbles, in a bid to stem surging community transmission of Covid.
The Co-chair of the Independent Guam organisation, Michael Luhan Bevacqua, said signs of public fatigue with restrictions were a concern to many people.
"People want to gather. People haven't really been able to gather with their families for a very long time, at least not in any big numbers.
"But the governor of the island has encouraged people, basically saying, if we can bring our numbers down then we can celebrate Christmas together."
Bevacqua said that in what was already a difficult year, people's hardship didn't end when someone died due to Covid-19.
"One of the most difficult things for people is of course not being able to be around family, but also what we've seen, not being able to grieve in a collective way when somebody passes," he said.
"People in the hospital, they die alone. And when it's time for the funeral to happen, then there's restriction on how many people can attend."
Bevacqua said one thing that was clear to him from all of this was that Guam was definitely an American Territory.
"Because we see cases shooting up in the United States, and we can see the same pattern in Guam."
