On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan, Hubei, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.
[9] On 13 April, the CNMI received 20,000 test kits from South Korea; this shipment is expected to be the first of three, totaling 60,000, to arrive.
[10] Flights from China and Hong Kong were cancelled in early February,[11] leading to a drawdown in tourists to the island of Saipan and subsequently an economic crisis which triggered an austerity.
[14] The continuation of daily United Airlines' nonstop flights from Guam 120 miles away led to all arriving individuals suspected of coronavirus symptoms to be placed in quarantine at the Kanoa Resort.
[15] Circa 16 March, governor Ralph Torres temporarily closed all schools and government offices.