Local positive mars stack of negative tests
(CNS): There was one positive local transmission of COVID-19 with no explanation of how the patient acquired the virus, which was revealed among a bundle of 392 results by Chief Medical Officer Dr John Lee on Friday. The unexplained positive test served as a reminder that the virus is still infecting people who have not returned from overseas or have a connection to someone who has travelled or has a direct connection to another positive person.
“It is really important to remember this can pop up anywhere,” said Dr Lee at the daily COVID-19 briefing. “These are ordinary people going about their everyday business and just do not know how they have become positive,” he said of all community transmissions.
The CMO urged people to keep their distance, wear masks and to practice social distance when exercising.
But with 391 negative tests, many of which were screening samples from front-line workers, the results served to support the government’s decision to begin the limited easing of restrictions on some services next Monday, the first phase of a gradual release from the lockdowns.
Dr Lee also revealed that health workers have taken samples from 200 people on Little Cayman, virtually the entire population, and around 245 on Cayman Brac, including front-line workers and residents of the nursing home. Several hundred more are expected to be done on that island over the weekend and into next week, which Premier Alden McLaughlin said would possibly see the curfews lifted of those two islands during the course of next week, retaining only the social distancing measures limiting gatherings.
Dr Lee also confirmed that just three people remain in hospital suffering from the virus but all three are stable. One at the HSA and two patients at Health City have largely recovered from COVID-19 but remain because of other health problems. *
There are also 32 patients who have tested positive but are dealing with symptoms of the virus at home or in quarantine and being supported by the HSA.
There have now been 74 positive cases from completed 1,927 tests in the Cayman Islands. Well over half were samples taken from people who were not sick but who tested for other reasons, such as those returning home or were screened because they are front-line workers. Only 11 of those individuals have been positive, which demonstrates that while the virus is still out there among some people undetected, it is not widely prevalent.
*This corrects an earlier error where it was indicated five people were still hospitalized with the virus.
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Category: Health, Medical Health
Tell the people the truth, stop this coverup to please the business community. What a shame always Money before Life!
So we have tested less than 2% of the population, 1500 in 5 weeks and that’s a good sign? Fosters alone has 700 staff..What about the delivery drivers? What about the many restaurant workers that are making our food? This makes no sense!!
Will somebody at the press conference please ask why are we not testing at a more expeditious pace? I would be happy if they said that they have tested 10% of the population which they surely could have by now..but this trickling of testing being done worries me and I sure as hell don’t want to see another spike happen..
Did you just climb out from under a rock? It has been covered many times already! Don’t you already know that nothing ever works as it should on this rock.
Agreed..Testing, Test, Testing…..We have 200K of these kits..let’s test everyone of the front line workers before we start letting everyone out the gate..another 6K people released today…UNTESTED!!!
What’s insane is that we aren’t treating this as no two cities are like. We can’t look at New York and say that’s going to happen to us because we don’t have the population density they have. Just like there is a difference between LA and New York! We need to start doing what the Swedes do and actually social distance ourselves and start opening places up so we can have some quality of life and economic relief.
This isn’t going anywhere, but we can be smarter from now on and come out stronger.
I’m sorry to say the ongoing testing is giving the public fault hope. One negative result out of 392, doesn’t say anything.
We still dont know how many persons out of the 392 have already caught the virus?
So the CI government doesn’t have clue what percentage of the population might have already caught the virus, so this means Alden and his geniuses have a “Catch 22 Dilemma”, all the people that are being tested now will almost certainly have to be tested again, does that make any logical since. Where are the experts with common sense?
Seems our freedom is based on more testing but yet we have zero control over the expediation of testing even though we have all equipment and sociall will to do so.
catch 22. In Bermuda testing continues on weekends.
But what are they testing for? Are they testing for antibodies also? No, that’s the catch 22. Having to test people multiple times doesn’t make logical sense!
Jeez, they are unable to conduct simple testing in large numbers and you want them to start testing for antibodies? It is like graduating a bicycle rider to 747. I bet there is no one in the territory who has a slightest idea what antibodies are and how to test for it. Let alone they have to buy it yet.
They have already wasted millions on tests, masks, PPE that WOULD NEVER BE FULLY UTILIZED. May be masks would be useful during next Dump fire.
Medically that’s what is done. You test positive, wait 14 days, test again
and if still positive wait some more, test again. Lots of people after 14 days are asymptomatic, meaning they still have the virus in their system BUT don’t appear to be sick. When they intermix with the community they can pass the virus on to others. So they become what I grew hearing people call “GERM CARRIER”, people who don’t appear to be sick but pass the illness on to others and they get sick.
Surely the most important point is the admission that they can’t trace all the community contacts. How is test trace isolate supposed to work if that is the case.
Johnny Lee rocking 7/7 again. Holding it together with that smile bro’.
Not the first rodeo eh? LOLZ.
Time to open up! The death rate is vastly over rated and yes, people can continue to isolate if they choose to but this quarantine is now beyond silly! And if the govt has people in quarantine ina facility, why are we being forced to stay home?
Even if we open up and the rest of the world isn’t doing business as normal where are we going to get money from???
COVID-19 update. May 2, 2020
The first large series of post-mortem analyses that suggested blood clots within the small arteries of the lungs may be at the root of the COVID-19 hypoxemia (low blood oxygen). Since then, New York City doctors have reported strokes occurring in COVID-19 patients under the age of 50, including one as young as 33. This is consistent with the disease causing blood clots, which are the major cause of stroke in Western countries.
It is important not to jump to conclusions here and use drugs with anti-clotting activity, such as NSAIDs, to treat COVID-19 before we have more data. Such drugs can alter levels of PGE2, a substance that is involved in blood clotting, but which also can promote or inhibit viral growth, depending on the virus.
Yesterday, a new preprint* was released suggesting that naproxen, an NSAID often marketed as Aleve, actually inhibits viral growth.
Important: Since this update discusses medications, I want to put special emphasis on the fact that I am not a medical doctor and am not offering medical advice. I am here to provide education and analysis of the research.
• Background to the New Paper
Naproxen has previously been shown to inhibit replication of influenza A both in isolated cells and in live mice.
This might be partly a result of its inhibition of cyclooxygenase, which produces PGE2, a substance that can sometimes promote viral growth. However, it also binds to the N protein, which makes up the protein coating around the genetic material of the virus and plays a number of roles in infection, including antagonizing the interferon response and facilitating the copying of the genetic material to allow replication. Naproxen binding to the N protein strongly inhibits the copying of the genetic material, and, as a consequence, viral replication.
The N protein of each virus is different, and we cannot assume that its effect on the influenza N protein will translate to an effect on the N protein of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
• The Results
However, in this new study, computer modeling suggested that naproxen binds to the N protein of SARS-CoV-2 even better than it binds to that of influenza A.
Then they tested the effect on viral replication in human cells that line the nose and the bronchus. Bronchi are part of the lungs and constitute the air passages that connect the lungs to the windpipe.
Strangely, naproxen strongly inhibited viral replication in the bronchial cells, but not the nasal cells. 90 and 300 micromoles per liter (uM), a measure of the concentration of the drug, inhibited viral replication in the bronchial cells by about 75%. Neither concentration had a statistically significant effect on viral replication in nasal cells, but the replication was about 10% higher at 90 uM and a few percent lower at 300 uM.
The virus replicates more quickly in the lower respiratory tract (bronchus) than the upper respiratory tract (nose), so it may be the case that the effect of naproxen was easier to show in the bronchial cells because of a more severe level of infection. Alternatively, there could be differences in the cellular response of the nasal cells and the bronchial cells.
• Is This Likely to Hold Up in Live Humans?
Could naproxen have antiviral effects in humans?
In the bronchial cells, the IC50, the concentration required for 50% inhibition of viral replication, was 46.07 uM.
Two 220 mg naproxen sodium tablets taken together lead to a maximal plasma concentration of 65.88 micrograms per milliliter, which, using this calculator, is 286.12 uM. This is much higher than the IC50 and much higher than the concentration required for maximal effect (which was the ~75% decrease in viral replication seen with both 90 and 300 uM).
The half-life of naproxen is 12-17 hours. Generally, taking a dose once every half life will result in an average plasma concentration that is roughly double the single dose on its own. This suggests that 220 mg naproxen sodium taken twice a day would be the best way to maintain plasma concentrations close to 300 uM.
While this does not make it certain that naproxen would inhibit viral replication in humans, it makes it very promising. Randomized controlled trials would be needed to test the effect.
• What About Blood Clotting?
Naproxen inhibits cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) in platelets, which is necessary for clotting. This can be measured with a platelet function assay that passes blood through a membrane with small holes. The time the platelets take to close the holes is measured, and is called the “closure time.” In humans, 250 mg taken twice a day increases the closure time by 42%.
• Is Naproxen Safe?
Naproxen has a long list of potential side effects. Obviously anything that has anti-clotting effects could risk excessive blood thinning in some people. With that said, naproxen has a history of widespread use as an over-the-counter medication and has a safety profile consistent with over-the-counter medications.
• The Bottom Line
Naproxen has not been shown to be beneficial for COVID-19, and randomized controlled trials would be needed to show that it is effective.
However, taken at standard over-the-counter doses, it strongly inhibits replication of the virus in bronchial cells, and it has anti-clotting effects on platelets. Given that clotting may underly the hypoxemia and the rare but deeply concerning incidence of stroke in young people, these anti-clotting effects may help prevent a case from becoming severe or fatal.
Over-the-counter medications are not zero-risk medications, but if something with a risk profile suitable to use for a headache or a menstrual cramp also has the potential to prevent COVID-19 from becoming severe or fatal, many people may choose to use it.
Personally, because I am concerned about the side effects of frequent use, I would only use it short-term during an illness and would not use it preventatively.
*Footnotes
* The term “preprint” is often used in these updates. Preprints are studies destined for peer-reviewed journals that have yet to be peer-reviewed. Because COVID-19 is such a rapidly evolving disease and peer-review takes so long, most of the information circulating about the disease comes from preprints.
Disclaimer
I am not a medical doctor and this is not medical advice. Please consult your physician before doing anything for prevention or treatment of COVID-19, and please seek the help of a physician immediately if you believe you may have COVID-19.
You probably know more than a lot of physicians.
Thank you for the compilation of this information. Those of us that really care can find our own sources. Well done!
Thank you for sharing. Its nice to see other people researching and sharing their findings. Wish people worked together and helped each other more like this on a regular basis.
If a person had seasonal flu . Would they give a positive reading in the test for Covid ?
New York had 3,000 more deaths in April 2020 than the previous year. All deaths, other than covid, drastically reduced. No one cares to ask why thousands fewer persons died of heart attacks. Like the unfortunate case in Health City. Michigan, one of the “hot” States, has less deaths overall. The virus is without a doubt real, but the media don’t understand words, denominator or comparable. Sensationalism over facts which would allow us to make rational decisions as to how best to defeat the virus.
no
No, they would not.
Did I hear that facemasks had been distributed to the MLA’s? Would it not be more sensible to hand these out at the Banks & Supermarkets as you enter/queue, to avoid the hoarding situation that we had with Toilet Paper & Paper Towel? How is my MLA going to assign masks to my family
Expat living in North Side. Think Ezzard is going to give me a mask?
I’m not by any means an Ezzard fan but yes he would 1:58. He’s a pain in the ass but he’s basically a decent person.
No maks for you.
Of the 74 positives how many were linked to those in self quarantine?.
Both of them,.
If the plan is to wait until there is no more positives before opening up the economy then Cayman will no longer have one. Is this really the plan? Please be “Incredibly” honest so those who still want a life can plan to move somewhere that will be possible.
I believe that is what we expect to see happening next.
Its nice for those of you who have legal means to reside and work in other countries to do so but us Caymanians are stuck here through good and bad: hurricanes, pandemics and econony crashes.
Please remember that when you all keep going on about how grateful WE should be to have YOU grace us with your non-tax incomed presence.
We all know that the minute things here dont work to your advantage or when you need to retire to your own country’s govt paid old age security and health coverage, you will just leave.
Our fight, our solidarity is becaise we are the ones being left with whatever you leave behind; an over-inflated and costly infrastructure; a blown up cost of living; a massive mountain of garbage and a meticulously watered down culture on the basis that you thought we needed to be more like you – living to work all the time for the almighty dollar vs just working enough to live – which you call lazy and unambitious.
All the best. If you need to leave, go ahead. We know the ones that stuck it out with us like those who helped us rebuild after Ivan, are the only ones we really need here.
Most of these tests were the brac and little cayman, when are they going to even do mass testing here and front line workers who STILL haven’t been tested? We should test absolutely thousands upon pin thousands to get a real picture. This is a recipe for disaster unlocking businesses already sorry ,
You will soon see then you won’t mark me down Cayman . Be concerned very concerned still
How come they have enough tests for our entire population but refuse to test everyone yet all of LC gets tested?
And if they following New Zealand who are now on Level 3 after the same 5 weeks as us and based on testing about 0.125% of population which equates to about 1600 people in Cayman – a number which we have exceeded – how have we not reached Level 3? especially with only 1 foreign, imported death and 74 cases?
Is our Premier just hell bent on going way above and beyond the measures of even those whose protocols he is following?
They needed a sample population to see if the testers know what they are doing and to confirm the test kits actually worked. We are going to bat-wing this thing.
5:20pm
Who cares if they are 1 day late – we have them now.
Politicians!
Stop the games please (on all sides).
All too sickening…. tiring… and absolutely useless.
Please start testing more people per day? We haven’t even hit 2000 yet and we have 200,000 kits that we are slowly giving away instead of testing..We have a five phase plan that starts with grooming dogs and cleaning cars as a priority…You can’t make this shit up!
I could see the writing on the wall when they weren’t able to test but a few each day..Thank God they have CTMH testing now but still not enough. We should be doing 300 a day not a week..We are going to be inside for a long time…
We were prommissed 500-600 a day just on the HSA machine/s now Dr’s hospital Health city and HSA are all running and the best is 200…..
Testing 10,000 a day wouldn’t matter if you dont do the antibodies test as well. One of the purpose of testing should also be to determine if someone may have already caught the virus. CI government testing strategy makes no sense without the antibodies test.
I wonder how much they are charging the hospital for tests! Cannot help thinking these tests were not to help everyone! only those interested in paying.
COVID 19 ( Certificate Of Vaccination ID 2019) came from a bat!!!!!!
Hahahahahaha. Sounds rather batty. Oops. Smart people alert. Go ahead.
Tell me about the bat, Mr. smart person.
I guess you watched “Contagion”, the movie? Movies don’t count, we do not need predictive programming, we want TRUTH. Ok, go ahead. Please use real facts.
Starting early today?
Poster 5:20 does it really matter how many were ready yesterday? Stop being so nosy and be grateful it’s only one negative, I can tell you are a real drama queen!
No its just annoying, they said results would be posted when they come out online, but Alden and the chipmunks want control of everything.
Agreed. I think the slow down of results is due to CIG wanting to control information.
Would be great to see 300-500 a day not a week! Let’s crank this testing up Dr. Lee. I want to be able to get out of my house soon.
CNS, can you ask next meeting if anyone could go to the drive through testing at CTMH to get their test done. If we knew this, most people could go voluntarily rather than just the ones selected by the public health department. My biggest fear is that there are a lot of asymptomatic carriers out there and community spread will remain an issue for some time to come..
CNS: At the moment it appears to be by invitation only as part of this initial push to get all front-line workers tested. I have no idea if that will change later on.
1 cannot possibly mar 392. That’s like saying I got 99.997% (100%) on a test but didn’t do well.
of these 392 results how many were ready yesterday?