‘Stay at home’ order abuse worries officials
(CNS): One single traffic-cam reader picked up over 10,000 unique vehicles in just five hours on Saturday, and government officials are frustrated over the scale of the abuse of the ‘stay at home’ soft curfew after the lockdown was lifted. Police Commissioner Derek Byrne said it was unsustainable and Premier Alden McLaughlin said he was really worried about the supermarket problem, after the public completely ignored his appeal on Friday not to go unless it was essential.
Speaking at the COVID press briefing on Saturday, convened to report on how Cayman was reacting to the lifting of a 58-hour curfew and transitioning to the daytime softer restrictions, Governor Martyn Roper, the premier and Commissioner Byrne all expressed disappointment. They also repeatedly reminded the public that the restrictions were in place to save lives and stop the spread of this pandemic in our community.
From dozens of people sunbathing on beaches, which may now cause them to be closed, to drinkers congregating in groups outside liquor stores, the abuse was widespread, officials reported.
The commissioner said there had been “a lot of movement” on Saturday which was not justified. He warned that it was challenging for his officers to keep a check on this many people and whether or not they were out for legitimate reasons, and made it clear that he would prefer a return to full lockdown if the police are to have any chance of enforcing ‘stay at home’ measures.
The premier spoke specifically about the supermarkets and his concerns over the long lines outside, as the store owners tried to maintain social distancing measures inside.
He said that people in the queues were not keeping their distance and warned that the person “you are queuing besides may be infected… and you will contract it”, adding, “We have to treat everyone around us as though they were contagious.”
He urged people to take the threat seriously and not to take the negative test results for granted or believe that the threat has dissipated.
“It has not gone away. We still do not know the extent to which there is community transmission of the virus in these islands, and it will be some weeks before we can be anywhere near certain about what the status is,” he said.
Having urged people not to go to the supermarkets unless they absolutely had to and not to panic buy, McLaughlin said those words had gone completely unheeded. He said some lines were snaking for best part of a quarter of a mile from supermarket doors, undermining efforts to try and check the spread. While the government does not want to shut the grocery stores, he said the situation was posing a real problem because of people’s behaviour.
“It is clear that we are going to have to find a better means of ensuring that everyone gets adequate access to the food they need but where we don’t wind up with these excessively long queues,” the premier stated, noting once again that the supermarkets have plenty of product. He said government was in discussions with the owners to see what could be done to better manage the situation.
McLaughlin also pointed out that people should not be spending so much money on things that they are unlikely to really need. He said we do not know how long this situation is going to last, after acknowledging that this situation has, of course, crashed the economy. While it will recover, it will take time, he warned, and panic buying will see people running out of money before this thing ends.
While everyone has to eat or get out for essential things, he said, for the soft curfew to work the public had to cooperate and follow rules. The premier railed against businesses that refuse to shut, saying that he had had reports that some construction sites were operating and landscapers were seen working in yards.
These businesses were breaching the law “and carrying on as though it was business as usual. It is not.” All businesses are closed except those that have been exempted, he said.
McLaughlin was also very concerned about hundreds of people sunbathing on some of the beaches, a sentiment echoed by the governor, who said this was an obvious breach of the curfew.
“That is not going to work,” McLaughlin said, as he once again reminded people that we do not know the extent of the community spread. He said that, although he was reluctant to do so, he would close the beaches as a result of this type of selfish behaviour if it did not stop tomorrow.
“We need people to stay away from each other. We need people to stay home,” he said, and warned of more restrictive measures in general if people did not stop abusing the soft curfew period.
“We don’t know how long we are going to be in this state,” he said, stressing that people must change their behaviour to get through these next few weeks.
McLaughlin urged people to look at the news and see what is happening all around us and understand the serious nature of this pandemic. The restrictive measures are all about saving lives, and until we have a better understanding of transmission rates, we have to believe that this coronavirus is in the community, he said.
The premier said he did not want anyone in Cayman to die of this disease, pointing out that even a single death was someone’s loved one. “Or it could be you,” he added, as he repeated the plea for people to stay at home.
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Category: Health, Local News
What “abuse” are they referring to? They closed supermarkets for 3 full days and then gave the people only a 12 hour window between the hard curfew and another Sunday close. What do they expect?
Mathematically, considering the population and the number of grocery stores that are open, it was normal to expect between 500-800 people per hour at the grocery stores. Enough with the threats already!! People are behaving very well considering the circumstances and the uncertainties they are facing.
The more intimidating talk such as “we have to take tougher measures”, the more people will panic. Things are going well so far. Government is doing a decent job, but don’t push the people too hard, too fast, too much further.
Are you serious, 500 -800 people per at the grocery stores? That is why people are panicking when you say crap like this..
I just don’t get, would you rather eat what you have for a couple of days that die of coronavirus. One would think that not one of these people standing in these long lines had anything to last them for two days at home or that they ate everything they had at home in two days. Some of these same people have been shopping everyday for the last 2-3 weeks..When you were hoarding toilet paper you should have been buying groceries. Some you may not remember Ivan but many of went for days with what we had or what our neighbors could spare to give us. All of this raucous about can’t survive for food for two days and blaming the government for your insecurities and lack of planning is yours to deal with and nobody else’s.
Today, BBC has run an article: Coronavirus: Domestic abuse victims ‘still allowed to leave home’
“campaigners also warn that domestic abuse has already increased elsewhere in the world as more people at risk from abuse are forced to stay indoors with their abusers due to the pandemic.”
Reports of domestic violence in the Cayman Islands have quadrupled in the past five years according to Cayman media (2019)
Why not a word from Premier about EXTRA measures taken to protect women and children and even some men? Yet, according to one comment here Police was armed while observing people lined up to buy groceries.
Because one of their own is likely to face charges for beating a woman. They need to deal with that hypocrisy first.
Can someone please remove this so called ‘Minister of Health’ and whoever writes his speeches. Totally sickening and would drive anybody to be unhealthy when they are ok. Work out Minister of Health thy vessel.
He writes them. Obviously.
Eating is not a choice that can be delayed. It’s like peeing.
I hope you wear diapers then! Luckily, I am able to delay peeing until it get to the toilet.
Have you ever heard of fasting…you are a little overweight, two days of drinking water only will cleanse your body and may even help you drop a few of those pounds you don’t need..
Yes, but he may be peeing his pants all the time..ugh!
Because I enjoy a drink, problem?
This an international health emergency where the Cabinet, Governor and police force are already exercising haphazard restrictive crisis powers. The staple stores should have a civic obligation to fulfill and distribute plentiful fresh goods in an orderly and hygienic manner within a certain time frame that goes beyond profit margins and normal service economics. The Cabinet should order the supermarkets to create online portals and service backends, with mobilization of the “out of work”, stipend receiving, taxi fleets to deliver these grocery orders with gloves and masks. There is a duty that people will remember. Email your list, pay by phone/PayPal, supermarket assembles, and fulfills the order in the next awaiting taxi in queue. Nobody goes to the store. Either this is a proper time of emergency or it isn’t. How hard is this?!?
Just drop your “know it all” attitude.
Firstly here in Cayman you have to fax your ccard information. Secondly, delivery is still not guaranteed.
Secondly even in the US many prefer to shop themselves. One of the reasons is that online prices marked up up to 25% plus all kind of fees. The total ends up being additional 40% of store prices. Costco, Publix and all others markup their prices if paid through Instacart for example.
Been there done that. It is how it is. Don’t start new discussions that you believe that I and others should be doing that for “your” justified reasons. Because if people could afford, they would shop online and pay extra.
Supermarkets shouldn’t be free to apply their normal (failing) service standards, or inflate consumer pricing, during a territorial emergency. Where are the matching crisis rules and responsibilities for those “exempted services” pretending they have the authority to pick their customers while denying service to others? Nobody has home telephones, let alone fax machines. It’s also unworkable to authorize an amount you don’t know.
Those households serving a 14 day isolation, should be applauded, and given the highest consumer priority, not the lowest. Contracting for delivery, means there is an obligation to deliver within a reasonable time frame. Case in point, today, Sunday 29th, our household finally received about half of the Kirk’s order we placed last Monday. Missing were “exotic luxuries” like deodorant, red tomatoes, lettuce, broccoli, olive oil, pasta, and a roll of paper towel, which are supposed to be “plentiful”. Tomorrow our isolation ends and we will NEVER misplace our faith in these after-thought services again, and I’m sure we’re not alone. Failing delivery services are going to drive consumers to risk a run to the store, which is exactly what we all want to avoid.
We need a full 14 day lock down, if not in 2-3 weeks we may really regret it.
Just an Idea— How about breaking the alphabet into 5 groups of letters. Each group gets one day a week to get groceries. Example, If your last name begins with A,B,C, or D you go to the store on Monday, show your ID buy your supplies and go home and stay there until next Monday. Tues. E,F,G & H day to shop. You have to show correct ID. to be out and about.
I actually like that… if people would only go for themselves. You’ll find most people will just give cash to whomever has the name.
It’s funny to see how people are attacking each other in the comments and this was only a 48 hour lock down. I’d hate to see us when it’s a “till further notice” lock down. Cayman would tear itself apart.
That’s not new here
Apart from the comments that the implementation of the full curfew was handled badly we are now being treated like children by the “parents”. What did they expect would happen when Alden refused to allow Supermarkets to open on Sundays allowing people to buy as needed and also his comments about do as you are told or you will get the full curfew again? Government keeps telling us what we are doing wrong and is doing nothing to tell us what they are doing right. Why not order 5 masks for everyone on island so that when they go out they limit potential infections? Why not tell us about the 10,000 test kits they will order to make sure they know the infection rates. Why not tell us how they can relax things if we can get to 2 weeks without any new infections. Give the people HOPE and they will comply but they have to believe you have a real plan. It is beginning to turn into Alden’s ego vs. the people’s collective ego. The next move is a 2 week lock down with tighter restrictions whatever the economic cost or the cost to the mental health of anyone involved.
We need the construction workers and landscapers to keep going, they are exempted!
No they’re not.
Nor are the pool cleaners out on the road this Sunday morning.
Fines need to start for these business owners who think they are above the health and safety of us all.
But what if that’s just their vehicle? Also, my pool guy doesn’t get close to my family… has always been isolated (before it was a thing) and usually gets the pool sorted without me even knowing he was here. Great guy too. Construction workers are not so lucky to be isolated on the job site.
Can someone from the media go check out Alden’s house, his subzero and giant pantry?
Can’t blame the government for your lack of planning. Always thought you’d have that paycheck every month right
I went to the supermarket because I needed supplies. I was one of those people that listened to the government and did not do any panic buying so I was caught off guard when the government announced the curfew and did not get a chance to get the things I NEEDED for me to stay at home for extended periods of time.
Who exactly approved the liquor stores to be open on Saturday? That person is responsible for the problems related to the gatherings that were taking place outside of the stores and should be disciplined appropriately. Also, why was there a need for armed police officers at the supermarkets and why were the supermarkets not instructed to use a ticketing system where people get a number and then wait in their cars until their number is called?
Common, no freaking tickets, don’t complicate it further.
Everywhere else in the world grocery stores are open, simply open, no freaking restrictions of any kind other than they close earlier to restock and disinfect.
I asked a friend who lives in Miami Gardens about Publix. She said it has everything, including sanitizers and toilet paper, few shoppers and fully manned checkouts.
Armed police at supermarkets? It can’t be true. But if so, this is insanity.
Mr Premier Sir, – you’re a smarter fella than I. With that said I had more than a pretty good idea what was going to happen at the stores this morning so didn’t bother going. Tempting providence and then railing at the outcome is a tune to probably best avoid.
Does anyone advise Alden on communications? Geez, he certainly could do better. Our politicians are always trying to act like they’re running some massive country with millions of people, so why hasn’t he hired a professional communications director or PR advisor? He’s not dumb or evil, but he so often says things that turn off people unnecessarily. Easily avoided if he had someone sensible close by to run things by before going public,
Alden, do yourself a favor, get somebody who can give you solid advice on communicating to the public. It’s not that big a deal. Most politicians in other countries have them. You clearly would benefit from professional advice. Just tryna help, Bobo,
He is just the latest and most recently ambitious in a long line of interminable megalomaniacs. The LA is filled with aspiring successors, waiting for their turn, all no better.
That description does not apply to Kurt. He led quietly and without ego. He told me he only swung his weight around behind closed doors and that was what got him results. We can hope again for a benign, compassionate leader.
your fault alden. you had the option to let supermarkets open sunday and you said no due to your own ignorance and stupidity.
it goes to show that your’hard’ lockdown is not the answer and is not in operation anywhere else in the world.
of course the police will want it brought back…that’s because the want an easy life as usual.
Mr Alden I beg you to put on the hard curfew for 7 days, a lot of colleagues I work with and people I message want it. It’s the only safe way to go sir.
I don’t want to get sick nor do I want to be dodging this nasty life changing virus for months and months let’s lock it down. Please.
We need the hard long lockdown period guys. Look at Italy for gods sake. Look at USA. Look around us before it’s too late mr Premier
Sure, if there is disease and community transmission.
Correct. We have to wait
The uprising is imminent
The only uprising you will see in this 2X4 is if they shut-off the liquor and the illegal drugs😂😂😂
To all those who keep criticizing Alden and calling him names, please get some perspective. Put the usual political crap on hold during this crisis. Be grateful for the leadership you have in Cayman right now. Imagine if Donald Trump was Cayman’s premier. How would you like that?
Alden may not be Winston Churchill but give him some credit. He’s educated, speaks like an adult, and he’s potty trained. It could be so much worse for us. Every American (except those lobotomized by Fox News) would trade Trump for Alden in a heartbeat.
Or, what if McKeeva or Anthony Eden were premier now? One would be scrambling to figure out how he could monetize the virus, and the other would be pushing new laws through the LA that declare gays responsible for the pandemic. You know it’s true.
Be thankful for what we have.
#lame
This is ironic ! You say ‘put the political crap on hold’ and then start introducing American Politics ! We’re NOT in America – so yes, put the Politics aside, stop being a bigot and insulting news viewers who you do not even know and practice what you’re preaching ! You are acting like you are ‘lobotomized’ yourself, with this double-talk.
btw: I totally agree ‘put the political crap on hold’ …….
Hypocritical is the word you looking for, not ironic. But let’s not bicker. Nothing I wrote was hypocritical. Anyone with a functional brain and a shred of decency can recognize that Trump is incompetent and corrupt. We are very fortunate to have Alden in this moment rather than someone like Trump.
And I didn’t insult “news viewers”. I insulted “Fox News viewers” because they don’t live in reality and some of their mental programming can be dangerous to the rest of us.
This is not opinion. Studies have shown that they know less about news than those who watch/read no news. So effective is the Fox propaganda machine that their viewers are worse than merely ignorant. They are left confidently and aggressively stupid. Not good for them, not good for the world.
Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson are not your friends. They are using your passive fearful mind as a commodity to be manipulated and profited off of.
Change the channel and join the living.
#lame
No, my friend – ‘Ironic’ was exactly the word I was looking for : Dictionary Definition: “happening in the opposite way to what is expected, and typically causing wry amusement because of this.”
Your Post was presumably meant to steer people ‘away’ from Politics and then your next comments brought Politics right back into the issue – thus having the opposite effect to that which you ‘presumably’ set out to achieve…. Unless of course, you were simply trolling for the sake of it.
FYI, I watch several different US News sources and most of them are rubbish so let’s not make the prejudgement that I am ardent ‘Fox’ fan but I do get tired of hearing that monotone with every news item that appears – it’s so telling about a person ….
As I said before, the premise of your argument – let’s keep Politics out of it is both agreed and well taken – Now you go do the same , thanks.
Sad I have to explain this. My original post was not political. I brought up having someone like Trump as our leader being a much worse scenario for Cayman than Alden because, as I wrote, Trump is extremely corrupt and obviously incompetent. Him being a Republican or conservative is irrelevant to that which is why I didn’t mention it.
My pointing out the dangerous dishonesty of Fox News is, again, not political. If a truly far left tv news network had the popularity and effectiveness of Fox News in turning viewers into confident stubborn imbeciles then I would criticize it no differently. The post was about honesty and competence, regardless of political flavor. Keep up.
#lame
You two publicly trying to outwit each other here (to the rest of us) looks #childish and #lame. Shut up.
The last time I left my yard was last week Friday to the supermarket. I didn’t go today because I expected mayhem out there. I plan to go on Monday morning early. I do not want any of you coming up and standing in my space. I am taking my sanitizer with me and anyone who comes in my space will be sprayed. Please stay at least two meters away from me and everybody else. Thank you.
I love it! I haven’t been able to buy any sanitizer – it was all hoarded long ago – but I do have a bottle of Windex that I can threaten people with if they invade my space!
How many purple shirts does this guy own? What’s up with that? So many…
Not everyone could or even wanted to shop on Saturday with the circus you caused. If the virus is out there that would be the way to make sure a great number of people spread it around. Please at least give it a couple of days for people to get supplies before you get so mad at the few that you punish the many. I could starve and live but I will not do that to my wife and kids. Please don’t make me. For those of you who are fully stocked up and willing to sacrifice everyone else you are pathetic and unnecessary to humanity.
It is flawed logic to equate current medical isolation situation with the post-Ivan rationing – when most of the population evacuated ahead of a known Cat 5 killer. Right now, there are lots of supplies to go around, but people just can’t get to it in an orderly and regulated fashion. It wouldn’t be hard to control public outings by surname during certain declared time slots per day: just divide alphabet and soft curfew hours by three, cycle those blocks daily. We could do that for months without any congestion, hardship, or drama.
No freaking creative controlling. People everywhere else in the world have no problems with buying food. Just keep stores open. Period.
It would seem that most of the fools calling for tighter lockdown are those with endless resources and most definitely not indigenous.
Locals are kinder to each other.
I am almost ashamed to be an expat.
@7:09 – there is no such thing as an “indigenous Caymanian”.
A pleasant fiction for expats but unfortunately just not true. This society is 300 years old and the descendants of the settlers are as indigenous as any indigenous group in the world. No earlier human population is known of so there is no group more Caymanian than (real) Caymanians.
Ugh. Expats know more about this because we have to take a test on your history.
Indigenous is based on who you daddy is, not whether one takes a test. I hope you can process this.
The very meaning of indigenous means you are not born and descended out of settlers, but that all your descendants were born and bred here. Like the Native Indians in USA, and the Aborigines in Australia pre colonization by settlers.
It is the vacationing Civil Servants
I live on Fairbanks Road. During lockdown it was so nice and peaceful without those twits buzzing by.
This is fantastic. People waking up to Alden.
Alden & his board missed all the points well illustrated in these comments . It is human nature to protect one-self/ family with essentials like food & when that gets denied, people WILL over-buy as a self protective measure , line up for hours and put up with the inconvenience as a measure to protect themselves from the anxiety of not having food or necessary items. Many of these people have small children , elderly folks in their household , people with dietary concerns , medical conditions. Mr. McLaughlin … if you spent five minutes away from your ego and considered the decisions made to implement this weeks ( and next weeks) curfew , you would not be reading the derision in this media platform by the citizens and residents of Cayman.
Alden you have a farm in East End what are you giving back to your people from your farm except telling them to eat ” Corned Beef” this is disgusting surly you can give more of a healthy advice-
…and to eat corned beef, first you must have corned beef.
That’s not what he said !!
I made a delicious salad with tomatoes from Alden’s farm the other day.
So alden and his farm must provide for the entire country now ? Why didn’t you buy your land to farm on ? We’ve been warned about this from decades ago. No one thought it would ever be the reality in these islands of supposed milk and honey.
Pardon my language, but is he really that dumb? Even If you set a cordon around grocery stores, people would resort to violence and or ransack it at night. Hunger is a very strong driver of human behavior. He or his army of consultants know that.
Getting mad at people who simply want to buy food when they’re are hungry, not when he allows them to do so is a sign of dictatorship, to say the least.
You can’t expect or force hungry people obey orders. Especially after you left some without access to food for at least 58 hours.
Oh please! Supermarkets have been overflowing with people buying MORE than enough groceries since at least the 2nd week of March. People have had more than enough opportunity to go to the store. So stop complaining about these two days they were closed !
Nobody is hungry, they are just greedy.
Sorry, but we all KNEW this was coming!! They should’ve stocked up beforehand. It’s like hurricane season..you should stock up before it happens!
The problem is they did stock up, but on toilet paper. When everyone told them they should be buying groceries instead of toilet paper they wouldn’t listen. Now they have gone from shopping for toilet paper everyday to shopping for food everyday..
My question is why were they not buying food everyday during the toilet paper panic buying? They were not buying so much food back then now all of a sudden as soon the supermarket door opens they are there and every friggin day. Can’t you buy food like you use to, like once or twice a week? You all complaining about where your next paycheck is coming from and all you are doing is wasting money on hoarding food. Before this we weren’t shopping everyday, let’s try to normalize this a bit instead of forcing the hand of Alden to shut us down again…We are not children, let’s stop acting that way..
Oh ffs. Alden, the supermarket issue IS YOUR FAULT. After a week of saying there is no need for panic buying, you then impose a 58 hour long curfew with 4 hours notice, and threaten that it could be extended. Then you relax that on a Saturday morning in full knowledge that there people will be concerned and that there is no way everyone can get shopping for eg 7 days within the opening hours. Then you have a press conference on Saturday saying, again, there is no need for panic buying but in the next breath you say there may be a full curfew again. WTF are people supposed to do? Not everyone has drivers or butlers or cooks or whatever like you. YOU are making things worse. YOU imposed the full curfew out of your own ego. YOU are absolutely failing on the communication front.
All because you cannot tell the difference between closure of non-essential services and people being able to, err, feed their families. Utterly pathetic.
Go watch Bbc and cnn, then come back and tell us if you really think our situation here in the cayman islands is still “utterly pathetic”
Well put. Mixed messages are what’s causing the foolishness. To me, to you. It’s like The Chuckle Brothers when he’s speaking.
For all those fools that think they are more important than anyone else and cant stay their behinds home for a few days I got something for you: the permenant cure for the virus and all the money in the world.
Come to Pedro Bluff and jump off, then swim to 110ft. You will get your reward then.
After you. Show us how it’s done your way. Please.
Can you please explain why liquor stores are granted exempt status… yet AL Thompson and hardware stores are not? Many of us would use this time to make home repairs when such services otherwise might not be available. And Mr. Premier: exactly how do liquor sales fit in with encouraging people not to spend money foolishly??
To keep people pacified and keep the alcoholics out of hospitals due to withdrawal.
Well said. It’s very dangerous for alcohol dependents to just come off alcohol. They can have seizures and die. I know because it happened to a relative of mine. Also, I know drinking alcohol is not a essential, but it is a pleasure and in times like these we need all the pleasures we can get. It doesn’t mean we have to get off our faces, just drink to relax. We don’t needs cakes and chocolates but they won’t remove them from the shelves just because they aren’t essential.
Straw man argument
Wow. You really have no view of the real world.
He left it open so domestic violence soars.
Quite the opposite. Shut them down and report back to us with the stats.
Why is the bong shop on the waterfront open?
How is there even a bong shop?
There’s a tobacco shop?
Big supporters and high rates of duties
They want us drunk, not productive? Just guessing.
How did prohibition work out?
Dear Mr Premier:
You have our full support, however your communication is half the problem here.
Don’t tell people Monday not to stock up or panic buy then turn around and announce a 3 day 24 hour curfew the next day with only a few hours notice. Then you wonder why people are panic buying Saturday morning!
Don’t tell us only essential services will open but then allow that to include liquor stores. But only after being asked for clarification.
Don’t sit there and wonder why there are huge line ups Saturday when you haven’t got the courage to allow supermarkets and pharmacies to open on Sunday.
Don’t allow your ignorant minister of health to attend any further press conferences. Every time he opens his mouth, which is only when he isn’t typing away on his phone, he just confuses people.
Have the courage to direct the supermarkets to have delivery systems set up for when the curfew ends. You should have done this Tuesday. Just something simple. Limit to 15 essential items, paid by credit card, delivery or a pick up window. Would greatly reduce line ups.
This isn’t going to end soon so you need to think outside the box a bit.
Your welcome.
Perfect summary, well said. His press conferences are confusing to say the least
He isn’t the greatest orator. None of them are. And then you have Dwayne…..words fail me.
Hurleys has had grocery delivery service in place for a very long time now, long before covid-19. Use it !
Sure, Hurley’s at 30% higher pricing than walk-in retail. Kirk’s took the whole week off making excuses for its non-delivery. Fosters doesn’t even offer delivery. Meanwhile there are 100’s of “out of work” taxi drivers, with vans, now receiving stipends, that might have been called or ordered into civic service to deliver the plentiful inventories to satisfy orders placed almost a week ago by law-abiding home isolation citizens. Either this is a national/international emergency or it’s not. Either we are a community helping each other to comply or we’re not. This ego-driven regime can’t even ensure a basic orderly distribution of goods, even when it behooves them to do so…and they wonder why the population panics and hoards when they get their opportunity.
Close the supermarkets, use online ordering and let the staff fill and pack the orders instead of having to deal with the public. Use redundant drivers for delivery service and like anywhere else add a SMALL fee to cover driver costs and get it all delivered. It really makes no sense that all the supermarkets and stores don’t have island-wide delivery anyway.
Don’t forget Woody was on the radio and in the media stating not to panic buy weeks before also. So when the news came of full lock down, had to leave work in haste but still couldn’t get in before the curfew started. Bunch of morons at the helm!! Giving conflicting information which causing all the anxiety and the panic buying. Lock the place down and let the supermarkets deliver. Lots of people unable to work now so give them a job as a delivery person similarly to the fast foods joints. This is not rocket science guys!
Fosters doesn’t deliver. They won’t even take a credit card payment over the phone for someone (not abiding an isolation) to pick it up!!!
You’re. See YOUR problem?
Grammar and obviously common sense which you lack very much for not preparing in time. I am truly sorry you lack the basic skills needed to look ahead and simply prepare.
Stop waiting for someone to tell you what to do. You are surely not 5 years of age. Stop playing the blame game and look in the mirror.
Shop by Electorial Districts. ID to prove person’s address. Persons listen for their turn.
Once at supermarket, stay in vehicle. The numbers entering the supermarkets are managed to allow maximum social distancing. (Maybe ticketing/parking assistant). (Of course can be fine tuned even more).
Does the Commissioner have disaster/national crisis management experience? (Besides wasting helicopter fuel) One has to predict behaviours and plan accordingly. The Premier should know better than just leave things openended. These things needs military minds to get such operations run smoothly. Police are law enforcement not necessarily operations people.
After Ivan and Bermuda Regiment came to the rescue, Cayman should have formed a Regiment in 2007 at least. Had discussions with the Premier but he shirked the idea off. Now it’s too little too late.
YOUR an idiot.
Many people can’t comprehend let alone read, at least from official sources. The sheer lack of respect for each other is really showing now. The only way to deal with the morons at the end of the day is to beat the living tar out of them!
Let’s try to have a balanced view of this. It should have been expected that some would want to shop today which is normally a shopping day especially for weekly paid workers.
However, many could have waited until next week to be sure.
Sadly, when the country is allowed to hire such an overwhelming number of persons on work permits, many of them on the minimum wage, this is what we must now expect.
Enough with the expat bashing. Not unless you really want to know what expats think of the ignorant Caymanians.
You know if you had left the last sentence off I probably would have given you a thumbs up..Do you realize that the majority of the people that are stocking the shelves and ensuring that you get all the food you need are on work permits and working for minimum wage.
As a Caymanian, I get so sick of people bashing Expats during times of crisis. If everyone of the low income expats working in the grocery stores, gas stations, domestics etc were shipped off the island prior to this as some said they should be, we would be in one hell of a predicament. You think the lines were long today? No one to pack shelves, take care of children and elderly, fix our cars, and the list could go on..Let’s try to be decent and stop this foolishness.
This is the cayman islands though….!
What’s your point? Use the expats until I crisis happens then throw them out? Come on people, please get a little sense about you..how many of you would get up at 2 or 3am to go down to Foster to start unloading containers and stocking shelves so that when us other Caymanians get up we can flood the store so that you have to keep on stocking it all day..Are you going to clean the store and check out the people..Do you know how many people just Fosters alone employs and how many people are working in the background just so that we can expat bash them all day long..
I wasn’t raised like this and my mother always told me and ingrained in me that we were to be a welcoming people and no matter who a person was or where they came from we were to treat them as we would like to be treated..As a Caymanian, I feel so ashamed when I see this bashing continued…pick out the bad ones and those that commit crimes but please don’t generalize.. they are people with families and they have to earn a living to even if it is cleaning up before and after us…Let’s be good to each other..
You just lowered yourself to the same level so thumbs down from this expat.
Our medium-sized household is complying with a voluntary isolation, which we are taking seriously, and thus contracted with a Supermarket to deliver replenishing staple foods last Monday. However, these groceries are yet to materialize, despite that store having the last 6 days to organize and deliver the order. We are very sympathetic to CIG and RCIPS efforts to get people to stay home and obey the rules, but at what point do stores get whipped for failing in their substantial duty to honour timely delivery on necessary food supplies? It’s more than just a casual commercial obligation under these serious circumstances. Even more frustrating is that they had 58hrs without any retail customer distractions or congestion to organize whatever order book they had pending.
I hope you followed up with them or your family shall surely starve by dear. You need an emergency line to call. Your situation sounds very serious!
Kirk’s assured us in writing on Wed that our Monday order for delivery Thursday would be delivered today (Saturday), then again at 5pm was assured the order was on the truck and out for delivery. At 9pm an apology call that it hadn’t been actually hadn’t actually been assembled; that the Thursday, Friday and Saturday orders had all overtaken our priority, but not to worry because their $15 delivery would be waived as tribute to our ongoing denial of service. In all these days, we could have called favors and imposed on any number of concerned friends/coworkers to have helped us, or ordered takeout, instead we relied on the current of lies Kirks was feeding us. Don’t make our mistake. Especially if this flares into a serious community transmission hotspot. Until such time as that this regime’s ego and ineptitude subsides towards guaranteeing an orderly distribution of goods, I think the hoarders, sadly, have it right.
Idiots! Why not implement DELIVERY AND PICKUP BY APPOINTMENT ONLY at the shops? With Sunday added as a day they can work to fill these needs surely people can calm down. Not rocket science….
He just don’t get that thousands may have ended up without food before 58 hours lockdown.
You just can’t assume people have food at home. Restricting access to food is the dumbest thing ever.
Sunbathing is also essential to maintain healthy immune system. If people keep safe distance, sunbathing should be encouraged.
You can sunbathe in your backyard, where you are safest and where noone has to be put at risk by YOU. Spread a towel, obviously not in an ants nest and “enjoy”.
Not everyone has a backyard.
Open a window and sunbathe then, if its that important to you.
On your doorstep then.
Oh like I believe Alden only has a few tins of corned beef and some rice. Lmfao
man like this got a whole cupboard of corn beef
It was a metaphor…but Lord help us next time we have a hurricane, many people on this island won’t make it…2 days without food has turned this into a humanitarian starvation crisis..One would think there is not going to be food in the stores again on Monday for the throngs to begin their hoarding again…
What do you expect from an ignorant nanny state full of self-absorbed people who feel a sense of entitlement.
Well if you didn’t threaten us with a lock down, we would not need to panic buy. But we know you do not live up to your word, as you already locked us down with no food, so this is on you Bobo.
Dollars to donuts he has a fully stocked walk in pantry and at least two refrigerators fully of food. If I am wrong I will apologize, waiting for a response.
Of course you can stay home & do without. I had little in my fridge when I flew in from U.K. But friends dropped some essentials & I’m on day 10 of quarantine. No restaurant deliveries & one online shop.
No one ‘needed’ to go out after 2.5 days. Why did you need to fill your car?!
Does anyone remember queuing at hurleys after Ivan for hours & only be allowed to spend $25. No one starved!
Cars were destroyed by the flooding & gas stations were closed. People survived!
That’s what we hope. To survive,
One of the rules to live by is NEVER ASSUME things about others. What they can or what they can’t, UNLESS you walked in THEIR shoes.
Amen to that
Proud of you Alden- You are a man of the soil, these Jonney come lately trying to tell us how to run our Country- Stay strong and keep us safe- We weathered Ivan and will weather this coronavirus- We the people are with you.
Why don’t people get it??!! It’s a simple and sensible strategy and should work to keep us ALL safe if EVERYBODY goes out only for what is NECESSARY! Sadly I had to leave home twice today to get bottled water – wasn’t in stock the first time, hence my second trip. Had on my gloves and masks and wiped down liberally with sanitizer after I collected my water. But I saw people in long supermarket lines without distancing and most without masks. Also people on the beach.
Have we become so selfish that we are willing to risk the lives of others? Please listen to the Government officials and ride these restrictions out until they can tell the status of the virus in our community. If the strategy works (and theoretically it can), within the next 2 weeks we could have live “close to normal” within our island!
People, please do this and try to convince those you may know who do not understand it!!
Yes it is a sensible strategy. And if the public had been advised to purchase 2 weeks of supplies weeks and weeks and weeks ago, when government knew full well this was coming down the pike, then okay. But they deceived us, mollycoddled us, and then closed everything the flip down.
Don’t you watch CNN or any of the other news stations? Do you think that Cayman was immuned from it coming here or that Alden would now the exact day when it would arrive? Come on now! Sometimes you have to think for yourselves and prepare.
We knew the virus would come, but didn’t expect it to ravage the community as it has in other countries. So far, it hasn’t, as we expected. So we also didn’t expect the same level of restrictions those countries have placed on their citizens. Simply put, there is no disaster here yet, but we are living as if there is. It’s a contradiction many are not comfortable with, and they want to be ready for anything. I am not here to judge, unlike so many others.
Smh
Wow. Didn’t expect it to ravage the community .. ?!! See how fast it’s paralysing the UK and its health system??? Its imperative we’re ahead of it, not the itger way around! Have you not understood anything.
Head and sand come to mind.
You mollycuddled yourself idiot.
Tap water here is perfectly safe to drink. Had you stuck to what is NECESSARY (your caps) you wouldn’t have needed to make the second – unneccessary – trip!
Open supermarkets 24 hours, including Sunday there will then be no queues,
What was he expecting in supermarkets they are so busy on friday and saturday nights normally.
Aldart wtf did you expect!!! Many people were understandably more than a little caught of guard by your rather childish last minute full curfew. They had not horded based on your word that the supermarkets would remain open so Saturday they needed to get groceries. It probably wouldn’t have been so bad if you had allowed the once suggested Sunday shopping.
Bring back total curfew! We are lucky to have a chance at controlling this, don’t let it be jeopardized by the morons among us.
CIG/RCIPS/HMCI should consider maintaining the soft curfew hours, while restricting outside movements by surnames: eg. A-G between 7:00-10:00am, H-N between 11:00-3:00, O-Z between 3:00-6:00pm. Get any shelter in place reprovisioning and exercise done during your 1/3 time slot. Those slots could rotate on a 3-day cycle so everyone gets their preferred time of day.
That only works when their are balanced numbers associated with the alphabet. We would have most of the population out with the B’s and E’s. Notwithstanding that there would be nothing left by the time you get to the last letters.
You don’t know that. If we can flatten the curve in an ICU sense, why not also at the supermarket? This regime needs to get a complete handle on the orderly distribution of plentiful goods, as if this were a national emergency in a time of crisis. They are already trying to use crisis powers in a half-assed way because they are too dumb or ego-blind to play forward the problems they are creating.
There are (at present) no supply interruptions or shortages, only orderly distribution mismanagement – of Cabinet’s creation.
LOL
8:43 are you a student working on some sort of project? You posted at least 3 comments.
Keeping supermarkets open is all that needed.
This is exactly what happened in the US. Everyone was out in about thinking everything was ok in their community and then basically overnight the numbers soared. Stay in and away from others! Our numbers are out of control. If that happens on GC, your hospitals will me overwhelmed… more so than in the United States.
Alden, many of us were caught unawares by the suddenness…hours notice…of the hard curfew and we genuinely were left short of essential supplies. Some of us, for example diabetics, have to make sure we have essential dietary requirements. So, while it can be accepted that the panic buying is excessive, standing in those terrible lines today for three hours were some of us who genuinely needed supplies. And by the way, opening supermarkets for seniors at sunrise does not seem very user friendly. Perhaps you could ask Foster’s to think again.
I think that people can still be prepared for weeks without having to goto the grocery store, even those with medical requirements. People in the states/canada buy enough food to be snowed in for a winter. Here we can barely go two days? A human can survive 10 days without food. Toughen up people.
You clearly know nothing about the requirements of some diabetics and should refrain from talking about what you do not understand.
If you have diabetes you should always keep at least a few days of what you need on hand.. Come on now the lockdown was just over two days. I feel for you and understand your medical condition but that was not the reason for the many thousands that were out today.
Alright, enlighten me. I have a friend who is diabetic. They stood in line and said they were fine. There is also an option for delivery which they take advantage of at times. They’re stocked up and ready to go. So why are diabetics vulnerable to the point they cannot stock up on food…?
Agree with you 100% 5:39! I think the lock down is a good idea but we were not given enough time to prepare. My family and I were in quarantine until Thursday when we were hoping to go to the supermarket (having confirmed that we didn’t have the virus). We had very little food until Saturday so I had to go to the shops today. Many of us are willing to comply with government but we need a decent amount of time to prepare!
Good thing I didn’t got to the store today…..you should not have either considering.
Sure next time please tell Alden that the virus needs to wait for a few days to give you enough time to get food for two days.. I hope now you got enough for a week and not back there on Monday morning like the rest.
How much time did you need? Should he have put it off until this Saturday so you can shop or maybe sometime next week to help your neighbor out because she can’t get out until next week.
It’s a virus folks, not Alden that is setting the timelines. Alden is just trying to get us to stay home so that we don’t catch it or give it to someone else. It is not about planning a date in the future so that you can go shopping. I value my friends and family even if you don’t value yours…
Allowing seniors in early reduces their risk of infection, do you not get that?!
Did he really expect only 100 people would need to go shopping? Is he really mad at people for going out and getting what they now need? If they are some (and you know there are many) that are out and about for no good reason please make them pay for it and not everyone else. Not everyone can eat what you eat, drink what you drink, and worship what and how you worship Mr. Premeir. Let us supply ourselves as we can before you shut down the stores and cause more panic buying with your threats.
Those that need to go out because of necessity should but no one can tell me that before this you were going to the grocery everyday and hundreds of people were lining up around Fosters for years..For god’s sake we were in lockdown for two and a half days not a week or a month..
What pisses me is I obeyed, just took my dogs for a walk and living on the food I have. There are things I want like milk, but don’t ‘need’. These dumbasses will cause another lockdown when I really need to go out for food supplies.
Yep, the wheelie motorcyclists with no helmets were at there usual racing up and down fairbanks road
With all of the camera technology that can uniquely identify vehicles I am surprised that they still can’t get this problem under control.
The police know who they are know where they live and from all the calls that have been made about they still say they can’t catch them.
14 days full lockdown is needed…
I don’t think we need to do the 14 days lockdown. What we need to start doing is have the police enforce the law and arrest these people that are breaking it. I understand that several construction sites and landscape companies were out working today. Arrest the owners and the employees of just one of these and I bet you that the message will hit home.
@ Anonymous 28/03/2020 at 10:27 pm – “arrest them” – and put them where exactly? How about on the spot fines instead.
All of you keyboard warriors you try running this shutdown/lockdown/curfew – do you think it’s simple?! If that was the case the virus wouldn’t have spread GLOBALLY! You really think China, Australia, India, USA, UK, Europe are doing any better?! ffs. It’s a dynamic virus – every country is learning as they go.
Grocery stores don’t need to be open on Sunday – stockers/cashiers/managers/owners need to rest and get outside too and new hires need work permits. Maybe the supermarkets don’t want to be open on Sunday, maybe they realise the less rest, the more stress, the more exposure the weaker the immune system. Think of the employees please.
CIG shouldn’t have to pay delivery fees – supermarkets can certainly lower or drop them. And CIG certainly shouldn’t pay taxi drivers to deliver the goods.
When did everybody become so dependent on the government to make decisions for them – come on people, we’re all adults here, put on your big pants and behave like one.
#stayhomecayman
Well said! Most of these people complaining are the one that always look to the government to help them instead of planning and saving for themselves.
Caymanians from my generation never knew of a government that had to help them, nor needed them to..We took care of our own, including our children, our elderly and yes our neighbors..Nowadays, we have become like some socialist state depending on the government to bail us out every time any type of incident happens. It sickens me that my people have reduced themselves to this level. There are many that are needy and should get the help of the government. These hard back men and women and paper-caymanians that come from countries where they would starve to death if they had to depend on their government need to understand that Cayman can only do so much.
Stay home, don’t spend more than you have to, stop believing that government owes you something, look out for the people that actually need help. You can go without food for a couple of days, and for God’s sake understand that there is a virus out there that could kill members of your family even if it doesn’t kill you..
“One single traffic-cam reader picked up over 10,000 unique vehicles in just five hours on Saturday”
What is this statistic supposed to mean? Is it really a surprise that most people had something they needed to do after being locked in their homes for 2 1/2 days?
There was only three things someone was supposed to “need to do:” get food/supplies, get medicines, go to the doctor. They weren’t supposed to go to sunbathe on the beach and swim in the ocean, go fishing, go the beauty salon, go see their friends, drink outside the liquor stores, drive up and down the road to see what’s going on, go score illegal drugs, go check on a woman or go to ANY job that isn’t deemed essential, and that includes construction sites, hair salons, janitorial businesses or anyone in the legal, accounting or financial services industry business. And they weren’t supposed to go to the grocery store with other household members. And yet, every single one of those things was being done because thousands of the residents here are selfish idiots.
Okay, well I did none of that. I have plenty of illegal drugs and no woman to check on.
I don’t understand how circling the $10k per hour RCIPS chopper at 500 ft does anything to communicate the directive other than rattle law-abiding, compliant people in their homes. It doesn’t hand out tickets or get vehicles/crowds to disperse. Didn’t see a single land-based unit telling people to go home.
Don’t be so spiteful. You have no idea of others’ needs. Sit down.
Well actually he said we are allowed 90 minutes of exercise. “Do not swim or run on the beach” was not stated, so people did it to get some exercise. I’d rather see people running on an empty beach than at the track with tons of people.
What part of “Stay home” you don’t understand?..He was talking about the people exercising on the beach but the ones that decided it was a beach day and brought out their coolers with liquor and other items with other people right beside them.
Folks let’s just stay our asses home for the week and get through this so that we don’t have to keep getting locked down. I am so sick of the foolishness now. I just wish that the Police would start enforcing the law and arresting and charging some of these people..I’ll bet they will stay home then..
Except the beach was not empty, and many people behaved as if they had never heard the words “social distancing”.
6:42 although I agree with you for the most part we were never told we couldn’t swim in the ocean. As someone who gets the majority of my exercise from swimming I think we can class it under our allocated 90 minutes of exercise. Just lying and bobbing around in the water not so much….