COVID-19 testing slowed as people miss slots
(CNS): Essential and other front-line workers who are now part of the test screening programme have slowed down the hoped-for surge in results after some failed to turn up for test appointments, Chief Medical Officer Dr John Lee said Thursday. While government was hoping to ratchet up COVID-19 tests to levels that will inform the re-opening plans and remove front-line workers that test positive, people failing to show up has slowed things down.
The CMO reported two new positive cases at the daily briefing on Thursday, one from a returning traveller in quarantine and the second taken from a contact of a person who has previously tested positive. But there were just 74 negative results, as the testing numbers fell from previous highs this week.
Dr Lee said that the most healthcare workers have now been tested, along with prison staff and inmates. But as police and fire officers, other uniform staff and supermarket workers are now being invited in for testing, people have been failing to show up for their tests.
Clearly aware that these numbers are not at the level needed to help with the re-opening plans, Dr Lee said that “testing colours every conversation I have”, adding that his entire working day was consumed with the question of how many people have been tested.
He explained that there were challenges in getting those invited to take part in the test screening to come in, but work was going on to find out why people were not coming in as scheduled.
“It’s just a question of getting the processes right,” Dr Lee said. He added that it was very easy to get healthcare workers tested or those in larger places, such as the prison, because public health staff can simply go there. The problem arose with those expected to turn up, as it was more difficult “to drag them in”.
“We want that number to be in the hundreds every day, we really do, and that’s what we are working to achieve,” he said, noting that public health was working on ways for the staff to go to larger private sector companies, such as supermarkets, and test front-line workers in the private sector on site.
The CMO said that despite how it may appear, contact tracing for front-line workers who test positive was not very different from anyone else who has tested positive. He explained that it is close contact for 15 minutes or more with another person that poses the real risk, and few front-line workers generally encounter the public in that way.
Dr Lee said not that many people have the concentrated experience with others outside their household or close working colleagues that would meet the contact tracing criteria.
He explained that contact tracing can be done more quickly than people realise, noting the speed with which the public health team was able to get to everyone who had been in contact with a patient who breached isolation rules at an apartment complex in George Town.
Cayman now has 80 positive tests, with just one fatality. Thirty-five people have now recovered, leaving 44 active cases, with just nine of those patients showing symptoms while the rest are showing no ill effects from the virus. 3,126 people have been tested, and while that represents a high per capita level compared to may other countries in the world, it is still far short of the kind of numbers government needs to get an understanding of the real picture of the community spread of this contagious virus.
While the number has fluctuated, as some community transmissions have turned out to be traceable, Cayman has had no more than a dozen positive case that cannot be traced so far. But with two positive cases of front-line workers just this week, much greater testing numbers will be required to achieve the premier’s goal of elimination of the virus here.
See Thursday’s press briefing on CIGTV below:
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Category: Health, Medical Health
100,000 test kits, 3000 tests completed in 6 weeks….I’m going to leave this right here..either incompetence or lack of political will..
My fear is that no one wants to speed up the testing as they know we will have more testing positive. Why not just get on it and get it done and those that are positive can self isolate…If were doing say 200-250 a day we would have had a sampling done of about 10,000 by now..
This infuriates me whenever Dr. Lee get up there and says we had 80 today…Tired of the excuses and tired of being locked up because people won’t get of their ass and do their job.
I’m going to bet that for Monday it will be about 100 again…ugh!
You are awesome! Thank you! Quick question though. If I wear a t-shirt and shorts, is enough of my skin exposed for proper absorption?
As a Manager of a local restaurant open for takeout and delivery, I was contacted by DCI last week regarding testing of our staff. I immediately responded that all my staff were more than willing to be tested. Without any information of the location of the testing procedures, I said I would make sure all my staff had transport to testing facilities. If someone tested positive we understood that we would most likely have to shut down and have all staff go into self isolation for the required 14 days. It’s now been over 10 days and no response back. I’ve reached out to the recommended contacts and still no response. I would like to know if any restaurant employees have been tested yet? Maybe they are waiting for the more populous front line workers to be tested, grocery stores, etc? There are more and more restaurants opening daily for takeout and delivery this past week. We need to start testing now.
They are lying. It’s the typical civil service response when something goes wrong. Take the whole licence plate fiasco. The director of the DVDL actually had the brazen audacity to try and blame the public for that one. Not all the civil service is bad and in fact, some are pretty well run. But the ones that aren’t are because the Caymanians in charge should be in charge of a Burger King drive thru, let alone a department. But the “fellowship” require everyone to lie when things go wrong. Or, they “retire” the leader at full pay. Sorry you’re going through this. Keep trying. I would try going over the head of whoever you’re trying to deal with. Maybe right up to Dr. Lee. Or maybe Wendy can ask this question at a briefing; she seems pretty bulletproof!
I don’t get. Why to shut down and all staff go in isolation? This is not norovirus
This is not how it is in Florida for example. No Publix store was ever shut down and all its staff went into isolation when some of the workers tested positive. No mandatory masks either.
I can’t imagine what people living in Cayman experience today. Premier conducts experiment in annihilation.
2:08 pm, you are correct. Egg on my face. But I don’t think the field hospital is interfering with testing. Different personnel.
Lol – don’t worry, no one can see egg on an anonymous face. And I agree with your assessment.
what if the experts are wrong? When does quarantining the healthy does not save lives? What if wearing mask does not prevent infection? A vaccine will not protect everyone. The experts are being outed around the world. Protect the vulnerable and the elderly. Stop holding the healthy hostage. How long are you willing to take this lockdown?
I just hope stupidity like yours isn’t contagious.
What if the earth is a giant cube of ice cream and we are just sprinkles, what if, what if what if…. There is no cure for stupid
Wait, you can’t play tennis even? That is insane. They started with the pools not being able to get service because of someone in government *wink wink* guess who* had a issue with a pool company and now tennis courts? How stupid is that! Also, I don’t have a tennis court, I think its stupid to restrict your community from being able to doing little non-contact things, it’s causing frustration that won’t be manageable.
Open the beach and the courts. Oh and, two people playing tennis are further apart than Moses and that chick in the photo today. Hmmmmmmmm
6:26 I agree with swimming but unless you’re playing tennis with someone in your household it isn’t sensible. Both players pick up the ball and subsequently it is a surface that could spread the virus. The risk is still there. But swimming should be allowed on a solo basis.
Good point, but aren’t we allowed to congregate with one other person outside the household? I see people walking together who aren’t from the same household all the time. So maybe only singles would be allowed if not from the same household.
11:46 people do it but we aren’t supposed to unfortunately. Government have repeatedly said don’t visit friends and they have even said don’t visit family if they live in separate houses. Its a shame but it’s supposed to keep us safe.
Sorry, I meant household contacts only.
Please don’t make me sit through the whole damn clown show (Dr Lee excepted); what was said about tennis courts? Thanks CNS!
I can’t believe tennis courts were ever even closed in the first place. Asinine that they decided that they wouldn’t let people play tennis nor have their own pool cleaned so that they can get fitness on their own property with their own freaking family.
It just proves that Alden‘s ego got in the way of actually maintaining this disease. Because it was great in the beginning but then it got to the point where it was insane very quickly.
Una still picking up the same ball as your tennis partner. If they aren’t in your household this risks spreading the virus. Its not rocket science. SMH
That’s why I said with your own family.
Premier, in answering a question clarifying whether tennis courts were banned or not – given that tennis is a social distancing exercise par excellence! – said playing on private courts was fine, but strata courts was strictly prohibited. Didn’t explain why, and then laughed because he said the COP was giving him the evil eye (presumably because the COP likes to play tennis). Hilarious. Alden doesn’t play tennis, and I am sure his financial backers have private courts, so a bit like strata swimming pools, a nice populist target. Doesn’t have to have any logic to it, just ban it.
Tennis with your household safer than those cycling groups. Please do not tell me they are from the same household! They also do not maintain min social distancing, let alone the space needed when sweating. In a tennis court you are a lot further apart. Total nonsense because Alden doesn’t play tennis (or know what’s its like to live at a condo with no private exercise space – especially on a Sunday). Some of us are vit D deficient as walking here 6 days a week would be madness – I would be killed by neighbours dogs. HELP! Let me out!!!
@3.10pm If I have to go thru it to find out things then hey sit and watch … LOL
Because less than 1000 people have taken care of their health out of the thousands we have in Cayman. A sick country mind body and spirit now wants to get healthy? Alittle late for that, but better late than never right.
If you crapped on your health for the past 30 years.
Don’t expect wearing masks or sanitizing your hands or vaccine or testing the entire island or locking people down.
Accept that our immune system is the only line of real defense when it comes to viral outbreaks.
If you crapped on your body most of your life, accept your karma, accept death and stop being so afraid and let go of trying to control nature.
I guess the younger generations that we have been calling stupid and illogical with no experience will prevail in the end.
Stay safe community.
People are interacting and they are not dying. #OverBlownFakery.
That’s because the strategy is working. People in other places in the world are interacting and dying by the tens of thousands, almost certainly by the millions before this is all over. Saying this is fake or overblown is uninformed and dangerous.
As time means the world starts have some actual data, scientists have been analysing it more and more. Tragically, the paper in the link below states:
“We found that closure of education facilities, prohibiting mass gatherings and closure of some non-essential businesses were associated with reduced incidence whereas stay at home orders, closure of all non-businesses and requiring the wearing of facemasks or coverings in public was not associated with any independent additional impact”
I.e. lockdown achieves nothing (but of course, it does destroy a lot of businesses and livelihoods)
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.01.20088260v1
Yes, yes, we know. You’re so desperate to show that all the drivel you keep posting is right and that what governments around the world are doing is wrong that you’ll search the ends of the Internet to prover your point. Ok, I – unlike you – have an open mind and clicked the link. At the top of the page, when talking about the study, it says: “This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review. It reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice.” Funny how you forgot to mention that part. Better luck next time.
Peer review takes months, a month at best. Almost none of the papers on cv19 are peer reviewed. Are you ignoring them all or just the ones that don’t confirm your own bias? Better luck next time.
6:52 Finally someone understands how publishing scientific journals works!! Alas judging by many of the comments on these articles most of the individuals commenting likely dropped out of school at the age of 16..
So what you are saying is that just because a peer review takes months, we should take studies that back your contentions that you are right and many other scientists and governments are wrong at face value in the meantime, even though we don’t know if the methodology and controls were valid? That’s not only extremely dangerous, but insanely stupid. Man, I am not sure how your house holds your enormous, albeit fragile, ego!
8:46 pm: I agree. Dr. Lee, please toughen up — enough of this namby pamby tip toeing around. We are trying to get a job done here and return to normality as much as possible within our borders. This is deadly serious.
I noticed a little bit of a tonal swipe at Wendy yesterday, in correcting the tennis court info.
1. Aside from April Cummings, who occasionally asks for clarifications (and thank God), Wendy is the only one that is following up and grappling with the answers that are given and trying to connect the dots and making sure that she has it right. And it is necessary to do that, as we in the public are listening and we hear at times information that is being delivered in a very unclear fashion.
2. The info on the tennis courts is a case in point. First, how many people have a private tennis court on their property? Do you think, Premier, that those persons need to be given permission to play tennis on their property? Did you think when you gave out that information that it might be logically interpreted to mean you were speaking about strata tennis courts?
3. Premier, try to constrain yourself in making these swipes at Wendy. Luckily, she seems to have a fairly thick skin. But do you really appreciate that
— media are themselves working under very difficult circumstances?
— that many may be wondering how long they will continue to get paid?
— that perhaps some are already enduring pay cuts?
4. Can you grasp the value of their role?
5. Can you grasp the value of CNS, that allows its readers to get a lot off their chest, releasing a lot of tension? Even if some are misguided, at the very least it is an opportunity for others to comment to bring balance and perhaps cause some to consider different points of view. And it is a mine of information to the panel, if they care to read it, on what public concerns are.
Strata property is private property
2:07 pm: doesn’t matter. Strata property is still governed under public health laws.
You are a bit like Alden – just making it up as you go along. Sure, the public health law has all sorts of provisions that apply to private property – on matters as diverse as rodent control and sexually transmitted disease! But the section that impacts stuff like soft curfew is the Governors ability under s.34 to issue regulations to deal with disease outbreaks. Its those regulations – the current version being Prevention, Control and Suppression of COVID 19 Regulations 2020 SL42/2020, effective 4 May (available on exploregov.ky/government-covid19-policies – that restrict access and use (see Section 8). And guess what? They say NOTHING about tennis courts. They prohibit the use of strata swimming pools and gyms, and that’s it.
And before you start, I am not a tennis player annoyed at the loss of my court. Nor do I think banning strata tennis whilst allowing the super rich to play on their private courts is the biggest issue we have. But it really pushes my buttons when the Premier just shoots from the hip, stating as a matter of fact things that he may have personal views on or where he is making an assumption are banned, that simply have no basis in law. It completely subverts the democratic checks and balances imposed by the law.
Just because Alden thinks they say something doesn’t mean that becomes law because he states it on TV. If he wants to stop the use of strata tennis courts, then he needs to ask the Governor to revise the regulations. Be interesting to see what his rationale would be. “Don’t make me look like I misled Wendy” wouldn’t cut it. And trying to persuade the Governor that 2 – 4 people all separated by the width of a court and a net, were a health risk may be problematic, particularly if its apparently not a problem as long as the court is privately owned.
Wendy – if you are “brave or stupid enough”, ask the Premier on Monday if he can quote the specific regulation that prohibits the use of a strata tennis court. Love to hear the answer to that one.
Donald Trump makes it up as he goes along all the time. Now his staff have the virus because he makes it up all the time.
Suspect he will only learn when he gets the virus.
Wow, sounds like we were taught by John John…Staying our asses home has worked so far. It’s sad that people like you are not exposed to the virus or have a family member test positive..
Correction on post at 11:36 am: I stand corrected on point 2. The Premier was responding to a question on a question. So I missed the point.
And by the way I do support what the Premier is doing generally. I think he has done an excellent job.
I just don’t think he appreciates that the media are members of the team.
Whether he realizes it or not, he and the Governor simply could not achieve effective public communication without the press.
I hope the media and the government are not a team.
What’s the tennis court info?
You do realise that policy decisions are not up to him and government still holds all the cards so pressure them not him.
@ 6:08 am, awaa, poor babies. Mamma will kiss the hurt away.
Mandatory testing won’t be tolerated and will lead to massive social upheaval, legal challenges and breakdown of law and order. An interesting option could simply be:
Have the medical test units, along with police, set up roadblocks randomly throughout the day at major intersections, in large car parks of supermarkets/hardware/etc…stop every car, ask for ID and and advise it’s voluntary, would they commit to an immediate test (in the tent set up nearby). Maybe 1/3rd will say yes, maybe only 10%. That will move the testing process along far faster than is happening right now. There are many of us who do not mind being tested at all, its almost a civic duty type thing.
Anyway, can’t wait for the thumbsdowns and being told that i’m not an epidemiologist or something.
My boss told me it was voluntary but also applied significant peer pressure to us to be tested. Like a good employee I went and got the qtip a foot up my nose.
Imagine 100 gallons of soap and lysol, weeks of voluntary house arrest, mask wearing everywhere, and still had to be subjected to that. It wasn’t worse than giving blood but the whole “voluntary” doesn’t seem so “voluntary” in many places.
By no means am I against to testing people who present with symptoms, and I will be one of the first in line for a vaccine.
But this one off test is BS. I might be negative today but I’m going shopping later, best hope I don’t show up to work next week positive.
Mandatory for those who want to work on the front line or in other jobs that put others at risk is the best root. Want a job – get tested. Don’t want to get tested – go home or get a job that does not put others at risk. Simple.
Yes, 11:35 am: all front line personnel should be tested.
As for 11:12 am: 1. Many people are asymptomatic—but they can still pass the virus along. The one case reported today was said to be asymptomatic. Imagine going around people for 14 days and passing the virus along and no one has any idea. While that is one case, it could affected many people.
2. So testing is not just for those who have symptoms.
Just get on with it. You had weeks and weeks to figure this out. You are playing the violin while Rome burns.
Ultimately it’s not his decision to make unfortunately.
What would you do?
Perhaps some positive PR for the companies that have EVERY worker tested would help? If fx supermarket A has been tested and B has not, I would naturally gravitate towards shopping at A.
You would have to test them every day for it to have real value.
Reminds me of the British Army in Belize back in the day. There was a notorious brothel in town – Raouls Rose Garden. Once a week the battalion medical officer would go down and check the girls for STDs, giving those that passed the test a certificate that they were clean, in the realistic expectation that simply banning the place wasn’t going to stop soldiers from visiting, nor was putting them on a charge if they got clap. Guess what -busiest night of the week was the the day the MO handed out the certificates. By the end of the week – not so much.
Una complain about the lock down and our so called rights being taken away but then don’t show up or cooperate with the medial board.. The sooner you get tested and comply with the measures put in place the sooner we all get out of this. Come on Cayman! SMH
submit or go to prison!
Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.
The people failing to go to their test aren’t the one’s stuck at home! You’re mixing up 2 groups of people.
Exactly. Those ‘essential’ ‘front line’ folk have no idea what the rest of us are going through. Look at the photo of the dump fire on Cayman Compass. All stood watching. Too close & no masks. Still being paid. Normal life.
PLEASE make these people get tested so the rest of us can get out if lock up. Perhaps the panel at the news briefing would like to stay home for 7 weeks & see what it feels like to never get in your car, never get on a bike (too old), unable to swim (condo pool), can’t shop as high risk & live alone. This is solitary confinement like they have in jails. All I did wrong was get cancer. Starting to think I would rather live 2 months as a front line worker than die like this.
With no patients currently hospitalized for Covid-19 treatment, they are too busy setting up field hospitals to bother with testing.
@8:41 am: no one is setting up a field hospital. Stay with the programme.
Really now. Go look on Jokey Hew Facebook page and let us all know what you see then.
Jokey who?
Get with the programme.
A field hospital has been set up at the Family Life Centre in the event that local hospitals become overwhelmed with COVID cases, a scenario local health officials say is unlikely if encouraging results continue.
Pissy and vastly incorrect thing to say. All field operations are well secured on all three islands. You wanted to rant. We understand.
Smooth, buttery and inconsequential nonsense.
And yours is glib poppycock
If each of the 4 supposedly operational PCR machines (3 at HSA and 1 at DH) has a potential output of 100 tests per day and yesterday’s test total was 76, something is way off, and I don’t mean just the point in time when we have enough tests done so that we can be released from confinement.
Assuming that this is not another, dog ate my test results situation, the operational requirements need to get people to show up for screening tests ought to be clear. Uniformed services personnel ought to be disciplined enough to show up for appointments, and if not, the the Police Commissioner and his counterparts in the other uniformed services ought to ensure that they do show up.
If the non-compliance problem is other front line personnel in the grocery stores etc then the solution is also clear – a new directive that simple requires them to get their tests done at the designated time or lose their job. There are plenty of people looking for work at the moment.
It is ridiculous that government is prepared to use draconian measures against those of us who are locked down but can’t bring themselves to go beyond saying pretty please would you get your test done. Our patience with these ongoing failures that are keeping us confined is gone!
You have got to be kidding. I hope I don’t live long enough when conditions of any employment would be mandatory testing and vaccinations.
Mandatory drug testing is already a requirement of employment in a lot of places, and vaccinations are a requirement of entry to schools, it’s not that big of a leap.
And that is bullshit!
No, it’s civilization, where the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.
Drugs are illegal.
I get good ones from my pharmacist all the time! You should try some!
I worked at a (now) large employer here where certain jobs had mandatory drug testing.
If you work on the so called front line then yes, testing for Covid 19 should now be mandatory. Otherwise we are in lockdown for ever.
I’m single & high risk. This ‘home alone’ with no end in sight, is causing me to go crazy.
You have lived that long for decades. Health care workers all over the world must be tested for contagious diseases like TB and vaccinated against other contagious diseases like rubella as a condition of employment. Testing and vaccination prevent the spread of infectious disease and give confidence to patients that their healers are not a threat. With disease it should be no different for front line workers handling the food and other supplies that we must buy to survive.
So why aren’t the private school teachers all vaccinated then?
What are you talking about?
Every work permit holder is employed and remains on island with mandatory testing already (HIV, Syphillis, Chest X Ray). This is no different and is a public health emergency.
A lot of those bristling at the strictures of the lockdown have been citing Sweden as a so-called shining example of relaxed posture by government. As at today’s report on World Meter, Sweden has had 25,265 cases, with 642 new cases; 135 new deaths and 425 critical; 314 deaths per million pop; and 14, 704 tests per million population. You can judge its success.
However, the real success story is Taiwan, where they have had no lockdown (!), schools have remained open, and many businesses are operating as per usual, with precautions, of course.
How they did it? They acted early, had the history of SARS to guide them, and did not trust the data out of China. Notably, they banned cruise ships from 6 February.
Here are data from Taiwan as of today: total cases, 440; total deaths, 6; no new cases, no new deaths; total recovered 355; no critical cases; total cases per million population, 18; deaths per million population, 0.3; tests per million population, 2,790.
And guess what, they did it without the help of the WHO, as they are not recognized as a nation, given the conflict with China.
How did they do it? They took the coronavirus very seriously from day 1, and their citizens complied, wearing masks, social distancing, and sanitizing as required.
The link below shows also that they were strict with containing citizens in their home bases. For example, a story is told of a tourist who had had permission to relocate from his hotel; while he was travelling in a taxi he got a cell phone message that told him he was straying too far from his hotel.
This link is from a story that was published by the UK Guardian newspaper on February 13, so it is dated, but it will describe how Taiwan handled the onset of the coronavirus in the early days.
And, not coincidentally, like New Zealand, Taiwan has a woman president.
Read story here:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/13/how-taiwan-is-containing-coronavirus-despite-diplomatic-isolation-by-china
As the story says, they have been so successful that they are now able to help other nations with supplies.
Bravo!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SdUmsMLW0o
Thank you! I too am tired of people holding Sweden up as a model !!
we were told a few weeks ago 500-600 tests just at the HSA can be done a day….
Researchers have found a correlation between vitamin D deficiency and coronavirus mortality rate. Anyone know a good place to get natural vitamin D?
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/05/200507121353.htm
A beach, the beach, all beaches!
Sunlight, fatty fish like tuna, salmon, herring, mackerel and sardines, egg yolks, cheese, fortified dairy products. I was shocked last year to find out I had a rather serious vitamin D deficiency. It happens a lot after you cross 50 my doctor told me. I was put on prescription high dosages of vitamin D for 8 weeks to resolve the acute issue and have been talking daily supplements since then. Luckily I had a good stockpile before the panic hit because you can’t find the good supplements anywhere now (at least I can’t and I’ve been looking). The prescription dosages are available, but insurance doesn’t cover them (of course they don’t – apparently insurers think it’s better to treat chronic disease than acute vitamin deficiency that could lead to chronic disease). They aren’t super expensive, but you need a prescription and you might need to take a blood test to get your doctor to prescribe them.
Sulfate deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency you’ve never heard of is a major culprit behind most modern chronic diseases and health conditions. But it is one that is largely overlooked.
Like vitamin D–the widely recognized “☀️sunshine vitamin”–sulfate levels depend on sun ☀️exposure. It is synthesized from sulfide in the skin and red blood cells via a ☀️sunlight-dependent chemical reaction.
Skin is a ☀️solar powered battery” that captures energy from ☀️sunshine to catalyze sulfate synthesis. The enzyme Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase (eNOS) “performs the magic” of turning ☀️sun energy into sulfate in the skin.
Two critical and “mysterious” forms of sulfate: vitamin D3 sulfate and cholesterol sulfate. We simultaneously produce both molecules, which exist in the bloodstream and many other parts of the body, when we’re exposed to ☀️sunlight.
Vitamin D and cholesterol share a key biochemical connection. Cholesterol, though potentially harmful in large quantities, must be present for the body to make vitamin D. ☀️Sunlight acts like a bridge between the two nutrients, as ultraviolet B rays from the ☀️sun reach the skin and activate 7-hydrocholesterol, a chemical precursor of vitamin D, converting it to vitamin D3.
While many people get their vitamin D3 from nutritional supplements, a significant difference exists between the type our bodies produce naturally and the kind that comes from a bottle.
🔆🔆🔆🔆In the presence of 🔅sunlight, skin cells produce vitamin D3 sulfate, a water-soluble form of the typically fat-soluble vitamin D. The sulfate form can travel freely throughout the bloodstream. But the vitamin D3 found in oral supplements is an unsulfated form that requires low density lipoprotein (LDL) — the so-called “bad” cholesterol — for transport to receptor sites in the body.
It is difficult to obtain the sulfated vitamin D3 from food sources alone, heightening the importance of ☀️sun exposure to achieving a healthy vitamin D status (Nair, R. & Maseeh, A. J Pharmacol Pharmacother. 2012; 3(2): 118–126). ☀️Sun exposure is really the key.
In addition to vitamin D, many other vitamins, hormones, and neurotransmitters must be sulfated for transport in the blood. Sulfate transport ranks among the most important bodily functions these various substances perform.
🔔Re-Read paragraph 7️⃣❗️Important to understand the difference..
Get well, go to the beach! Blessings!
Thank you! Alas I have had multiple skin cancers and try to avoid the sun except early in the morning or after 5pm. My supplement though is D3.
First 15-20 minutes after sunrise and one hour before sunset. No sunglasses.
https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/@3580656 It shows real time sun altitude.
There are different opinions on the best time for sun exposure to get vitamin D. If one wants to play it safe or uncomfortable with 5 min solar noon, first 15-20 minutes RIGHT after sunrise and one hour before sunset would be plenty to recharge your batteries = daily update for your body cells, so to speak.
Dminder app allows you to enter your coordinates and other data and will guide you to the best time for your location to get vitamin D via sun exposure. It would tell you how much you are getting and when it is time to stop.
Sometime D3 levels are so low that supervised therapeutic supplementation is necessary. But that must go with periodic testing. Make sure you check both D25 and D1.25
The 25-hydroxyvitamin D is the major form found in the blood and is the relatively inactive precursor to the active hormone, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. In other words: D25 shows how much is in your blood, and D1.25 how much is in your tissues and organs.
One can have high D25 and low D1.25 because he has “broken” VDR (vitamin D receptor) receptor. It is like your store has plenty of orange juice, but you can’t get it because store’s doors are closed (receptors).
Good doctor would always check: D25, D1.25, calcium and parathyroid hormone (PTH). Because calcium and PTH are extremely important along with d25 and d1.25 to see the state of your vitamin D metabolism. If your calcium level is even one decimal above the normal range, it is an alarm, and must be investigated ASAP.
Get more information here:
Low Vitamin D Levels, and Low Blood Vitamin D. https://www.parathyroid.com/low-vitamin-d.htm
High blood calcium https://www.parathyroid.com/high-calcium.htm
Normal Blood Calcium Levels Depend on Age https://www.parathyroid.com/Normal-Blood-Calcium-Levels.htm
You had me up to your last sentence. Obviously it is easy to get sunlight exposure without going to the beach.
• oral supplements is an UNSULFATED form that requires low density lipoprotein (LDL) for transport to receptor sites in the body.
• the sulfate form (by sun) can travel freely throughout the bloodstream.
@7:50, the best vitamin D is from the sun. Fifteen minutes of sunlight each day will keep your vitamin D at optimum. And you don’t need to go to the beach, although that would help. Sitting out in the sun or talking a long walk in the morning sun will do it quite well.
And kids need the most but are being deprived
People refusing to take steps to ensure their own well being blaming government…..?
Not showing up for appointments is a way of life in Cayman,
Okay government get your risk measuring stick out. Virus death risk vs drop in GDP and drop in life expectancy risk. Pull your heads out.
They already have their risk measuring stick out. The problem is that they’re using it to beat people, rather than measure risk.
I think rather than mandating testing we have to align incentives.
– workers will be allowed to return to work once they test negative
– workers will receive full pay until recovered if they test positive (otherwise, people will be scared to get tested)
– if you refuse to test, you will not return to work until the all clear is given.
We cannot allow people to fear for their job or income if they get tested.
Well said. We also cannot afford to allow people to waste testing slots because they are too damn lazy to be bothered. The solution is simple, miss your test slot without re-scheduling in advance and lose your job. We cannot afford to have untested people working in grocery stores, restaurants and delivery business any more.
I heard a few workers at a grocery store taking about the testing and one said… I won’t get tested!! And they all laughed in a way that implied they all agreed.
Yikes. But they do need to ensure these people won’t lose their job.
Great idea, but woters won’t stand for it.
If the test was a simple blood sample half the population would have volunteered.
Unfortunately it is not,.
.
Its is 20 seconds of discomfort (and it is uncomfortable….that swab goes way back up the nasal canal). But not a big deal.
Exactly. It’s 20 seconds folks. Suck ( or sniff) it up. They wont know what you were smoking last night…
Why can’t I just hock a nice loogie for them instead of them shoving a swab way up my nose? Because of my allergies, I can hock phlegm at the drop of a hat!
That’s gross, dude. Kind of funny, but gross.
Not sure they would volunteer for a blood test. The blood bank struggled to get blood donors as soooo many think its dangerous SMH
Mandatory testing or random testing outside supermarkets, on complexes, at workplaces, make it happen let’s get testing numbers up.
Have all the politicians been tested?
The more I watch this circus unfold every day, the more I see them as the crew of a rudderless boat heading for the rocks. The Captain, the First Mate and the Bosun are all deaf and blind, whistling tunes as they head toward disaster, unable to see the rocks or hear the warnings. They appear clueless of the tragedy unfolding before them. Dr Lee is certainly a nice man, if not a bit obtuse, but he’s certainly not an epidemiologist and he seems out of his depth just trying to manage the basics of this. The hapless Minister of Health continues to come across as totally helpless, like a child, even in his own home or so it appears. The Premier is all ego with no thoughtfulness or depth. If that isn’t obvious enough now for any of you, you’re as blind as they are. The curve is flat – let your people go! There are literally NO CASES on Brac and they still have a curfew. It’s lunacy; it’s bullshit!
Or the mask requirement on Little – where they have tested the entire population but just cant get to the point where they decide that there should be no restrictions other than a closed border. Alden seems addicted to the idea of imposing restrictions. What are the chances of us ever returning to normalcy here if after testing the entire population he still insists on a soft curfew and masks?
Please get us some proper help in here so we can get back to work and salvage what is left of the economy. Put Jon-Jon on mask distribution only, let Alden go to his farm and raise things for us all to eat, get a epidemiologist instead of a pain doctor (we all have a pain you know where) and a representative of the UK with some balls. These guys can not even get front line staff in to be tested when they are scheduled to be tested. What is the problem?
As long as he distributes them from the back of a donkey.
They have to find a way to people to come into test easier because not everyone want to push that long thing down your nose way back to your hairs
I am so thankful that we have some politicians who are not afraid to tell the truth.
https://youtu.be/Fz5z126qliY
Causes of Death in NY State mid-March through mid-April
2019 – 13,000 Heart Disease, Cancer, Accidents, Stroke, Alzheimers, Flu, Homicide, etc.
2020 – 16,000 (11,000 Covid-19) 5,000 Heart Disease, Cancer, Accidents, Stroke, Alzheimers, Flu, Homicide, etc.
Funny how all the other causes of death seem to have gone away and now its only covid. Weird huh?
Well when you think our unfortunate Italian’s death was deemed Covid-19 given his heart attack, it is no wonder.
His heart attack could have been caused by Covid-19. It causes organ failure, strokes and other maladies. There are many articles posted about this, but probably not on Fox News.
I wait patiently for someone similar to step forward here….sadly I will be surprised if that happens.
@ 9:25 pm: David Shibli, you believe this rabble rouser? Have you checked out corroborating evidence?
Sure, David, prop up an art critic who thinks he know more than the doctors and scientiest. You know he’s being sued by a group of front-line doctors who actually saw that this “flu” was doing to people? Seriously, if you just get your news from Fox and similar channels, you really don’t have a clue what COVID-19 does to some people. It’s not just the mortality rate – it’s the lifelong disability some will experience. And it’s not just those with underlying health issues (although that is the case with many). It’s young people, people in their 40s, people who are healthy. It’s not a hoax and anyone who thinks it is is not better than a typical, run-of-the-mill conspiracy theorists.
@11:02 You are woefully misinformed. Yes – this is a contagious coronavirus – but the mortality and deaths are way overstated.
The morbidity that can be directly attributable to C19 according to scientific investigation by competent subject matter experts is far smaller than what has been reported.
Please inform your opinion with scientific discussion, based on facts and actual observations. Don’t fall for the hysteria.
German virologist: Covid-19 is less deadly than we thought ->
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrL9QKGQrWk
I see you’re willing to scour every recess of the Internet to prove you’re theory is right and almost all other scientiest and governments in the world are wrong.
First of all, although Germany does have lower mortality rates than other countries, you can’t look at Germany in a vacuum Mr. I’m the Opposite of Woefully Uninformed because I Cherry Pick the News. You have to ask why it is lower. For at least one article that offers reasons, read this: https://www.thelocal.de/20200310/what-explains-the-low-coronavirus-death-rate-in-germany.
If you’re not really interesting in reading that because you’re afraid it will undermine your fragile belief system, then let me give you an executive review: Germany rolled out extensive testing and isolated and were better prepared with medical care. Also, the average infection age was lower in Germany because they older generation took more precautions. As another German scientist put it “a mix of statistical distortions and very real differences” in variables has been the cause. These kinds of variables are exactly why proving scientific theories is such a painstaking process. This is why many “experts” get things wrong – the look at a situation, draw a conclusion without know if that same situation will draw a different conclusion somewhere else where the variables are different.
But let’s get back to your video. If you bothered to read the accompanying article with the video, you would have read this:
“At UnHerd, we’ve spoken to experts at both ends of the range of estimates, from Neil Ferguson (who believes the IFR to be just under 1%, perhaps 0.8-0.9%) to Johan Giesecke who maintains that it is nearer 0.1%, or one in a thousand.
This may sound like splitting hairs — they are both under one percent after all — but in reality the difference between these estimates changes everything. At the lower end, a much more laissez-faire policy becomes possible, and at 30,000 deaths it starts to look like the UK has already been through the worst of it; at the higher end, a policy of continued ultra-caution is necessary because a more relaxed approach could mean hundreds of thousands of additional deaths.”
To be clear, if turns out to be at the higher end of your precious German proof of being less deadly than “we” though, that’s 9 times the mortality rate of the common flu (for which people take few precautions, except for those who get flu jabs). If an average 500,000 people die of the flu each year in the world and COVID-19 is nine times more deadly, that’s a lot of dead people. But here’s the thing: Do you in your wildest imagination think the mortality rate in Germany is going to be the same in Africa, South America, India and various other undeveloped or developing countries. Or even the US, where the response has disjointed to say the least. Of course you do, because your imagination is coloured entirely by the likes of Fox News.
I hope below might provoke thought somewhere on the CNS site. Thanks!
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Cayman Islands Government pursued an economic policy based on three, perhaps four, principal pillars, namely: financial and insurance services; tourism; healthcare tourism and (at a stretch) innovative technology. Although hugely important, the construction sector is more transient and cannot itself be considered a “pillar”.
While the Government’s economic policy was well intentioned, the financial and insurance services sector is essentially the only pillar left standing during this pandemic. All other pillars have been decimated for now. Their recovery for the most part rests on many factors far beyond the control of the Cayman Islands Government and its people.
Whilst the financial and insurance services sector’s resilience should be much applauded, this sector alone cannot rescue the Cayman Islands. After all, over 60% of the gross domestic product of the Cayman Islands is not directly related to the financial and insurance services sector. Nor is over 85% of the country’s population employed in that sector.
The Government must incorporate an additional pillar or two in its revised economic policy to be applied after the pandemic. Identifying resilient pillars is no easy task, particularly for a small remote nation as the Cayman Islands. It requires thinking beyond the box. Far, far beyond it.
But an untapped pillar may lie at the Government’s doorstep. That pillar would be based on solid public private partnerships and the creation of a sovereign wealth fund. Such partnerships would not necessarily require any cash investment on the part of the Government. And even if they did, it could be debt equity well spent.
The new public private partnerships could relate to greenfield projects such as those concerning waste management and real estate developments.
Equally, the Government could consider investing in existing businesses in the Cayman Islands. For example, many operating licenses are soon coming up for renewal. The licenses granted in the very profitable and attractive electricity, water treatment, ICT and fuel sectors immediately spring to mind.
Each of these licenses was never granted forever. The Government has every right not to renew them or to renew them on vastly different terms. Or indeed to renegotiate them where licensees are in continued breach of their licenses such as by continually failing to deliver promised services. I understand that CUC’s “exclusive” electricity transmission and distribution licence, for example, expires in 2028 thereby leaving much room for Government negotiations. It is not alone as Cayman Water Company’s licence renewal negotiations appear to have stalled.
Much of the profits from these licensed businesses is transferred out of the Cayman Islands. These profits are substantial. Shareholders in CUC, for example, have enjoyed significant dividends for many years. Net earnings for 2019 increased by $2.3 million over net earnings of $26.8 million in 2018.
The Cayman Islands and its people do not benefit once these profits are transferred to shareholders abroad. Why should such massive amounts of money leave these islands? Why should their local shareholders be unfairly restricted to a few local Caymanians forever? Why should our people and country not benefit more from such cash cows?
Many will be shocked at the suggestion of public private partnerships or the creation of a sovereign wealth fund. They will argue that such partnerships or a fund will be politicised and corrupted. They will argue that its impossible for the Government to be involved in running a business. Licensees will argue you cannot take their licences away or renegotiate them. They will argue that they provide important mission critical services and have sunk costs.
But each would be wrong. Many countries have established very successful sovereign wealth funds and public private partnerships. And have rolled out transparent mechanisms to ring fence these structures from political intervention and corruption.
Many countries have also very successfully and effectively invested in national businesses. And many countries have revoked or renegotiated licences. And mission critical public services have continued.
Think about the overwhelming public benefits resulting from such a new pillar. To start, Cayman would be better protected from any future shocks beyond its control. Profits from Caymanian strategic assets would remain within the Cayman Islands. If its business investments are managed correctly, they could give off cash for the people of the Cayman Islands in perpetuity.
Further, a part of these profits could be annually invested in healthcare and education initiatives, while the remainder could be carefully invested in a largely untouchable sovereign wealth fund.
It is an issue worth considering closely.
Interesting idea but sadly a bit naive – have you never heard of politicians running side ‘consulting’ businesses? there are too many politicians and wannabe politicians who would do anything to be the sovereign in relation to a sovereign wealth fund. Many others would see such a fund as a means for becoming as wealthy as the sovereigns of middle eastern oil states.
Interesting read but unfortunately naive and isn’t applicable for the Cayman Islands for 2 very simple reasons.
First there is no sovereign wealth fund nor is there a way to build one up. We aren’t Norway or Saudi Arabia with massive natural resources. Hell government can’t even manage a 700 million annual budget properly.
Second our politicians would be unable to resist the urge to enter into deals with their crony supporters and the PPEs would be doomed to fail.
Sorry but this just reality.
Signed, Caymanian.
It sounds draconian, but stop “requesting” and start mandating testing. If they have a list of frontline people, get them all in and tested, with repercussions for failure to show. We need to get this done. Regardless of the outcome, we need to get everybody tested. I hope the Brac doesn’t let down its guard prematurely. ‘
I have heard people claim they would refuse to get tested, with no stated reasoning as to why. Let’s get it done, and then when we are back to normal within Cayman, we can prepare for the opening up of the country down the line. This time, we’ll be much better prepared, with health services all lined up and ready with fully stocked PPE (RIGHT???) and protocols for people entering Cayman.
So far so good. Well done, those that have sacrificed for your people. It has been eye-opening — those few that absolutely refuse to bend even a degree to help their people.
People like you don’t seem to understand where this will end. ‘Testing’ and these for virus purposes completely ineffective mostly homemade and worn all day mouth guards are just the beginning. Mandatory vaccinations, tracking apps and eventually a permanent microchip in your body, or you can’t go shopping or enter a plane anymore, are the goal. Sounds crazy? Just look at China, the role model. Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Go ahead and explain your children and grandchildren what life and liberties you had and what is waiting for them down the road.
So not sure what you’re saying, except that life in this new normal is going to suck right? What’s the alternative you suggest? Just let everyone die? I’m not talking about Cayman. This is worldwide right?
If you recall after 911 all the sucky changes we had to go thru? This will for sure be 1000x worse. Maybe you won’t be around to tell your children/grandchildren what life and liberties you had?
@3:18 — who told you China is a “role model” for any country?
Here you go again, spouting your smug, over dramatic nonsense. It’s alarmists like you who started the whole Cold War with your domino theories. You want to talk about loss of liberties? Then start with the Republican-led Patriot Act, which, almost 20 years later affects some of our basic liberties when traveling. But then, the Republicans are the good guys, right?
I understand your allusions to U.S. founding fathers, and also appreciate the culture of those raised within those boundaries. I really do. I am forever grateful that you didn’t construe the “mandatory vaccinations, tracking apps and eventually a permanent microchip” as being the Mark of the Beast, as foretold in the Revelation AKA the Greek term Charagma. NEVERmind.
I thought that would simmer your CT juices and maybe even establish us as not enemies.
“People like me” look toward results, such as those enjoyed by Greenland, Faroe Islands and New Zealand, who managed to contain, trace and vanquish the virus. They are all now perfectly positioned to face the next wave of Covid-19: Their health services are all shored up and ready, and they are even now in talks about opening up their borders and those procedures and protocols that will come along with it.
We are not sacrificing liberty, Sir, we are being responsible, such that our freedom of movement (and dare I say, touch?) will thus be restored, thanks to our efforts, having done the right thing. Yes, those at risk will die, some of them soon. Some of them have, however, 10,15, even 20 years of life due them, if not truncated prematurely by this virus.
Oooh “Charagma”. Did He really say that?
If you are looking forward to “results” as you say, will you or will you not avail yourself of the “charagma”?
Will you recommend it for us and if so, why?
It’s not up to me, son, however since you ask, no, I’ll not take the mark, should it be offered, or even insisted upon.
You understand that I was thanking the poster for NOT going all Biblical on us, right? Since he was waxing philosophically about American Founding Fathers and all.
If you love mandatory things, move to North Korea or other country under dictatorship. Implant a chip and vaccinate to your teeth.
It’s possible most front line workers can’t afford to sit at home and type comments. Many are work permit holders. Traditionally, not a class of people, Cayman has really cared about.
Good post. I would not go as far as making testing mandatory for everyone though. It would be sufficient to have a rule that said in effect, if you are in any way a front line worker then unless you get tested you are prohibited from working on the front line or in any capacity in which you could come into contact with other members of the public. That way all the front line workers who might pose a threat to the rest of us would either be tested or be taken off the front line and those with philosophical or other objections to being tested could sit at home and consider their situation.
Hold the work permit holders down and test them. Once tested, put a stamp on their foreheads so we know they have been tested.
Agree. Well said. It boils down to the same thing, but is far more palatable as ingested your way. 😉
Sounds like Obama-speak.
And if they’re work permit holders, send them home. Moving forward, we don’t allow Caymanians and PR to return without a 14 day isolation and then tested…so…
Dr Lee, think about it. People have been in quarantine for 6 weeks plus now. Very few in a low income bracket at this point are going to come forward unless absolutely necessary for medical help if they present with symptoms of the virus prolonging isolation, – this especially with a financially crisis well under way and no real plan or relief rolled out to stem it. In showing an inability to adapt in strategy, all that you’re doing now is providing reason for people not to cooperate against a perpetual return of positive results. Speak to Alden, time to change it up.
Here we go again. First it was that they didn’t want to isolate and quarantine the first 60 or 70 people (or so) who tested positive, because they were scared to impinge upon their personal rights (which was quite ironically the protocol they were employing while at the very same time taking away everyone’s personal freedoms with the introduction of the soft and hard curfews). And while this ridiculously stupid and erroneous policy was allowing positives to return to their families and communities to continue the good work of infecting others, they had another completely opposite protocol going on for anyone stepping off of an airplane and testing negative to the virus. Major bungle #1.
Then they order and procure 200,000 test kits with promises from the Premier that testing “everyone” would now be the priority and that this would be done expeditiously (he later denied saying this but of course its on archived video for all to see).Weeks go by with day after day just a few more test results trickling in and only vague and dodgy excuses from Dr. Lee (episode after episode) for why testing hadn’t been ramped up to the massive scale we were promised. We later find out (after enough public pressure) that we were missing, all this time, critical components for the test processing. Instead it was excuses like “the machine is down for scheduled maintenance” (and so on). And finally he admits that we are not ever going to be capable of massive (blanket) testing to the scale we were lead to believe and that only sample testing to a much smaller degree would be possible, and that they would be selling off at least half of the test kits they bragged so much about, and that the majority of the remainder would likely expire in a few months and before we had a chance to use them. Bungle #2.
Now,, the excuse for only 75 test results today is that very few of the “frontline workers” who had been “invited” to come in for a test had actually shown up. Say what????
Did he just say “invited”!????? The entire population is in lockdown, for god knows how much longer but based in large part on how many people can be tested and how quickly, and he says “invited”?! We are all so happy that all of the prisoners at Northward have now been tested but the fact that you have ‘finally’ started testing the much more relevant groups (aside form healthcare workers) like frontline workers including police and the people working in groceries and restaurants, and then to find out that they are being sent out an RSVP like they are being invited to a four year old’s birthday party, with the ‘hopes’ that they will turn up, is beyond infuriating!!!!! C’mon Dr. Lee. Major bungle #3. Don’t invite these people to sneak in for a voluntary test and hope for the best, get out there with your test teams and get this done! I see your more recent protocol for dealing with positives is to (finally) “isolate them immediately”. Took you a while to finally come around to this but bottom line is, you have the power to mandate whatever you need to to get us out of this situation as quickly as possible. Stop trying to be everyone’s friend here (if that is what you are afraid of). For everyone’s sake, call up Woody at Fosters, tell him you are sending a team In on Friday, and that you expect every worker/person who is directly or indirectly handling the foods/products that we are buying (including delivery services) to give a mandatory test (as an example, not singling out Fosters). And please stop trying to convince us with misleading stats that compared to the rest of the world we are testing a very high percentage of our population. Focus rather on trying to figure out ways to increase your ability to test and process tests so that maybe we can all get tested (and quickly) like we were originally lead to believe was possible and get back to our normal lives without these shackles and restrictions and suffocating rules.
Let’s go, please, before we all lose our minds here completely.
This will and is an issue low to medium income earners financially crippled desperately need to get back to work nobody is going to come forward to be told you now need to self isolate for two weeks to four weeks depending on when you test comes back negative. Government would need to ensure that the people that are requested to self isolate are paid sick pay either by employee or government need to pick up the tab as other countries are doing, it would not be that many people as we have very few cases.
I’ve been to a food distribution point during this crisis where checkout staff were coughing into their hands, and then handling my checkout order. No PPE, or alcohol. It then occurred to me there may be key frontline folks who feel they can never take a sick day ever, not even during a crisis. Not sure why the store manager would keep them on the frontline either. It’s off our list of stores now.
Quite right too. The people are tired of the bullshit. #nottestingme
Then I suggest you are forcibly kept in confined isolation until you are tested. That’s fine with the rest of us.
Other way round. You stay home until you have the courage and the immune system to come out and join the rest of us.
We will not have our freedoms removed by sheep.
You want to bet you won’t, big talker?