Cruiser is Cayman’s first COVID-19 case
(CNS): Premier Alden McLaughlin has said that the first case of the new coronavirus, COVID-19, in the Cayman Islands has been confirmed in a cruise passenger who was quarantined at Health City. Government is now moving towards testing more suspected patients island-wide and making other plans to manage the inevitable spread. Officials are encouraging people to practice hygiene measures and social distancing to try to contain the virus.
Public meetings about the virus and the inter-schools primary sports day finals have been already been cancelled. So far there are no major shutdowns of schools or districts, but that may still come. Premier Alden McLaughlin said that government is now preparing for the worst while hoping for the best, but it would do what was necessary to reduce the potential rapid spread of this virus.
The first patient to test positive was a cruise passenger, a 68-year-old man who had suffered a cardiac arrest and was transferred to Health City Cayman Islands from the ship this week for that health emergency. But given that he was also suffering some respiratory issues, he was tested for the virus. Since being taken from the ship, the patient has been kept in isolation, where he remains in the care of medical professionals at the East End hospital and is doing well.
Government officials said they were confident that all measures were being taken at the hospital to control the spread.
The cruise passenger was one of six suspected patients believed to have the virus who were tested and the samples sent to Trinidad. Four of those have been confirmed as negative.
Officials have insisted that the Health Services Authority is prepared for the virus, as the hospital and local clinics have been preparing for the arrival of COVID-19 since it began spreading around the world several weeks ago. They have warned, however, there are likely to be people in the community who are asymptomatic and may still be infected, so people must act responsibly and follow the advise given by the HSA.
Premier Alden McLaughlin said that government will be extending the current travel bans to more countries, which will be confirmed after Cabinet meets tomorrow when other plans to help contain the virus, including the possible closure of schools, will be discussed. While that is not confirmed, he urged all social gatherings of large number of people to be cancelled. McLaughlin also suggested people should not go to church at the weekend but worship at home.
The premier warned of the potential tragic consequences of this virus said that he would not allow a reluctance to make “difficult decisions” to get in the way of doing what needs to be done to protect the people. He spoke about the business community implementing their business continuity plans and encouraged people to work from home. The premier said there are a range of economic assistance measures that could also be offered.
See the full press briefing below on CIGTV:
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Category: Health, Medical Health
Wonder if CIG has informed the cruise line of the ship from which that passenger disembarked. I saw an interview on Miami Channel 7 news two days ago when that ship arrived in Port Everglades Fl and a pax said that ” we stopped in Cayman to let-off a passenger who had a heart attack”. Clearly, until now, no one else but us now know that those passengers were exposed to COVID-19 on the ship Thus they were disembarking freely without any precautionary measures..
Cayman Islands Govt has a duty to inform the cruise line and the relevant Florida officials.
At this time assume everyone is the virus host. Even if you weren’t traveling by a plane or ship.
The focus must be on hospitals being ready to take who know how many people with respiratory distress. I suspect there’s not enough ventilators. In fact, I won’t be surprised if no extra ventilators purchased and ICU staff recruited.
You are completely right. But what you have failed to mention was that this very ship disembarked in Spotts, in Cayman. All 2,000 of them. Their voyage continued to Puerto Rico and a passenger became their first case.
Everything is in the open you just have to search for it. Gov’t denies they let them off the ship the “costa luminosa”
What is CIG doing to prepare for spread of this virus, which will inevitably challenge the health of the Island’s population aka our human resources, including the most vulnerable, such as children, people with preexisting conditions, the elderly and mentally ill? We need creative, outside-the-box, outside-the-economic-paradigm, solutions to address the fallout of this disease. And that does not mean worrying about cruise ship numbers! Here are a few sound responses to COVID-19 by governments around the world:
1.JAMAICA has closed schools and is urging the private sector to have their workers work from home. Large public events like carnival have been postponed.
2.CUBA is upping the production of a locally produced drug (used to treat COVID-19 in China) in preparation to treat their population and have allocated resources to their most vulnerable groups like the elderly and mentally ill. Travelers to the country are quarantined for a certain period of time.
3. ITALY announced yesterday that all mortgage repayments would be suspended during the crisis, allowing poor and middle-class families financial breathing space.
4. SOUTH KOREA has established “drive-thru” coronavirus testing facilities that can process 10,000 people per day and diagnose an individual in less than 10 minutes.
5. JAPAN, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced the government will provide subsidies for parents forced to take time off work to look after their children.
6. ISREAL, is only allowing foreign travelers to enter the country if they can self-quarantine for 14 days, while some EUROPEAN COUNTRIES so far untouched by the virus have simply closed their borders to those coming from infected regions.
References:
https://www.mintpressnews.com/creative-coronavirus-responses-across-world-but-not-trump-america/265666/
https://havanatimes.org/features/what-cuba-residents-are-being-told-about-coronavirus/
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20200313/parents-embrace-mass-school-closure
Remember Y2K? It was predicted that planes would fall from the sky.
Typical ‘Fake News’ comment – save it for places like Facebook.
Nearly 2000 dead in Italy and 70 dead in U.S. so far. And turkey 2:05 is comparing the virus to Y2K. Remember the Spanish flu in 1918. Google it.
Stop watching the B.S. on Fox News 2:05.
If a ship is in our waters, then we are required by the Samaritan Law to render assistance to any passenger who may require it. Even the threat of a global pandemic should not cause us to set aside our humanity, otherwise that is a start down a slippery slope.
True, but not wearing protective gear when assisting a patient from Italy? Do the people in charge not watch the news?
Nice point from the University of Made Up Law.
CIG might have been good but in retrospect it was a bad decision unless his care was so critical. cruiseline should reimburse us!
It seems that the virus can be spread even when infected people don’t show any symptoms, so guess we don’t have to distance only from people showing symptoms, but from everyone!! Please don’t tell people to stay away only from people showing symptoms.
ALL viruses can spread from any individual who does not show, nor may never show, ANY symptoms at all. That’s a virus thing, same as bacteria, nothing new hear to corona
Just because the first positive case was a passenger from a cruise ship does not mean it can’t come in via an airline passenger. He took several days to show symptoms so who knows how many arrive by plane that may bring it here too.
Exactly. The man had cardiac emergency.
So now Health City staff are apparently infected and the hospital is not accepting new patients. That cruise ship passenger should not have been allowed to disembark. 60,000 inhabitants in Cayman are now at risk and one of the primary health care facilities is compromised. Immediate steps need to be taken
1) No cruise ship disembarkation as of now. None, nada, nil, for at least 30 days.
2) Imposition of direct rule as the current government has and is being criminally irresponsible.
Let’s keep this in perspective and not minimize or downplay the reality. There is NO WAY that any soil on Mother Earth is not touched by this virus. Let me repeat this, with cruise ship passengers or not, this virus (like ALL others) will make it’s way everywhere…just like viruses have done since the beginning of time. The only difference will be the volume infected and the severity of sickness based on populations, precautions and the responses. Responses meaning: from a government, the medical community and the how local people treat the seriousness.
The end, thank you…and now go back to raiding the supermarkets and liquor stores.
Back in February, we all should have picketed at the dock DEMANDING that CIG stop tourism at least for two months with only grocery containers allowed. But the $%# mighty dollar will be the death of us all.