The Northern Marianas posted its highest single-day increase in Covid-19 cases over the weekend, with six positive results from coronavirus tests.
Photo: Mohd Rasfan / AFP
On Saturday the six were identified by travel screening at the Saipan International Airport.
All have been moved to a designated isolation area for close monitoring and contact tracing has begun, including for passengers on the same flight.
The CNMI now has 68 cases, 42 of which were discovered through port of entry screening.
Of those cases 27 cases originated from the US mainland, seven from US territories and nine from other foreign countries.
The news of the record rise in Covid-19 cases comes as the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation increased the fee for a test from $US50 to $US300.
The CHCC said since there was a heavy reliance on getting tested, it felt that $300 was a reasonable amount to cover the cost of staff, from the collection of specimens to testing.