Screening picks up more positive samples

| 25/05/2020 | 112 Comments
Cayman News Service
CMO Dr John Lee at Monday’s press briefing

(CNS): Five more samples from a batch of 975 tests, taken from people over the previous three days, were positive, as the COVID-19 screening process continues to pick up a small number of asymptomatic cases. At Monday’s press briefing Chief Medical Officer Dr John Lee said that one of the new cases came from a contact of a previously known positive patient and the other four were from construction and hardware store workers who were poised to go back to work.

Cayman has now tested 9,401 people for this coronavirus. So far, 134 have been positive, 61 of whom have officially recovered while another 59 remain asymptomatic, as was the case with all of the patients who tested positive over the weekend. There are currently just 13 symptomatic people, none of whom are in hospital, and the HSA has not seen any sick patients presenting with coronavirus symptoms for four weeks.

Revealing the latest test results, Dr Lee said that the 450 daily test target was for a five, not a seven, day week. Therefore, despite challenges and backlogs, the labs were still on track to deliver the test numbers needed. He said that around 1,000 people were still waiting for the results of tests taken over the last few days, and public health officials were keen to clear these as quickly as possible to avoid a backlog.

The tests remain critically important to easing the current lockdown restrictions, and right now the screening is heavily focused on construction workers to allow those employees to go back to active job sites in a phased manner.

So far, only six of the 850 already tested in the construction sector have been positive. Dr Lee said that there was no evidence of any specific clusters or trends and the test results reflect the wider screening programme results.

These results included two positive samples take from employees at A.L. Thompson’s store, but according to officials, these workers had not yet returned to their jobs as all staff were tested before the store reopened and only those with negative results were allowed back.

“We have learned the results of approximately 95% of the tests,” the store’s management said in a release at the weekend. “Of the 187 people screened, two individuals have, unfortunately, tested positive for the virus. Both are asymptomatic, have not returned to work while awaiting their results, and have had no contact with the public at the store.

“These staff members are isolating at home and following the strict guidelines of the HSA. We fully support them, and they will receive full pay and benefits during their mandatory isolation,” the company stated.

The premier welcomed the test results Monday, saying that government’s cautious approach was working and the results were “far from alarming”, rather they justified the way it was phasing in the return of construction workers to already active sites in the first instance. McLaughlin said it was remarkable that those in Cayman who have contracted the virus have on the whole not been sick.

He stressed the need to ease the economy open and not make the mistakes of other countries that have moved too quickly to open up, only to face a resurgence of cases of COVID-19.

The premier said he believed that in another four weeks, most people will be happy with the way they can move around with less concerns about a surge in spread.

Numbers tested in the Cayman Islands (Click to enlarge)

See the full briefing on CIGTV below:


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Category: Health, Medical Health

Comments (112)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Thanks CNS. But if that’s not the intent, what is? What percentage of testing in GC will assure Government that the virus is “somewhat contained” in the community so as to be safe to re-open. Personally I’m in no rush for full reopening as yet but we can’t remain closed forever. I’m speaking about internal return to “normal” , not even re-opening borders which is another kettle of fish.

    What is the intent for testing?

  2. Anonymous says:

    CNS- Am I correct in believing that Government intends to test every person in Grand Cayman (or at least 90+%) as they did in Little Cayman and Brac? So far the count is approaching 10k people with approx six times that amount to go.

    Do you know if that’s the intent?

    CNS: No, the premier has said that is not the intent.

  3. Anonymous says:

    26/05: 3.04pm……and how exactly can Government tell who are “healthy people”, without testing everyone (which may be the goal)? Can you tell? Clearly you don’t know the meaning of “asymptomatic” – it means showing no symptoms! Thus anyone who is positive but not showing any symptoms thinks they’re healthy, yet they can still spread the damn disease which is inside their bodies – and they don’t know it! Hence, masks reduce that risk to others!

    My pre-kindergarten niece understands this, why can’t supposedly mature people like you?!! It’s not about the morons who can’t understand this but about the innocent people they might infect through their ignorance and arrogance!!

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    • Anonymous says:

      I’ll wear my mask….. but you do know that you still will get some (most likely mild) mutation of the Wuhan virus as it’s here to stay. Wear a hazmat suit out if you feel compelled but leave the rest of us to live whats left if our only life.

      Get your body healthy with good foods and you’ll be just fine. Stop with bad oils and for god sake stop eating endangered animals. That’s how we get into these avoidable messes.

  4. Anonymous says:

    3.12 – you’re misunderstanding the maths! Of those who actually contract this disease virtually every person recovers statistically, maybe to put it more simply for you, how many people have died in cayman this year? For the majority of people the mortality rate of covid is actually 0.1%, therefore have more chance of dying whilst driving!

    I understand why you would get confused when the numbers are getting so low we’re really talking about rounding errors more so than actual probability.

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  5. Anonymous says:

    Actually you literately DONT have a 1% chance of dying while driving your car, wow

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  6. Anonymous says:

    2:01 and this is also why the whole mask wearing thing is ludicrous! They don’t work (show me a study that proves they do) and most importantly their basis is healthy people ‘might’ transmit it, clearly this has been disproved now, why does the government still insist on this infringement on healthy people?

    Even the uk government has announced there is no point in people wearing masks!

    CNS – can you challenge this please for us? Should they not have to prove a just cause not a fear?

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  7. Anonymous says:

    But you have conveniently missed the fact that Sweden (no lock down) in 8th has significantly fewer deaths per million than Belgium, UK, Spain, Italy and France which had comparatively strict lockdowns

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  8. Anonymous says:

    The United Kingdom and the Cayman Islands are in two different positions. In the latter most infected would be asymptomatic hence we cannot follow the strategy of the mother country . We had enough time to test everyone on the island thus opening the local economy and keeping the borders closed until it is safe to do so. Why are we waiting on a vaccine when the Covid-19 is a RNA virus. There was or is a sinister plan in place to get everyone on the planet vaccinated but there is intervention at play here which most are failing to see or even recognized. God is intervening.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Zeus or Jehovah? I can’t keep track anymore.

      • Anonymous says:

        People gave it a name, which is neither he nor she. Also we made him in our likeness not yet other way around and it’s not attach to any religion. One God yet multiple religions.

    • Anonymous says:

      God is intervening? Well he should have thought about that before allowing the ‘plague’ to descend on us in the first place.

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      • Anonymous says:

        What plague is on Cayman? The virus is doing what it needs to do. We are being given the opportunity to fix everything including ourselves during the lockdown but we are lost in fear thus unable to see clearly.

  9. Anonymous says:

    10.03 – they’re not even testing for infection! Does everyone realize this?

    They’re testing for RNA, that is NOT infection, then when they find someone, most often they’re not sick (that’s now called asymptomatic), these people can’t spread infection.

    Even if they did 99% of people recover.

    You literally have more chance of dying in your car!

    Time to stop the nonsense!

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  10. Anonymous says:

    Why does the government think our immune systems can’t fight this virus without a vaccine when 99% of people recover just fine?

    Why would you not just shelter the vulnerable?

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  11. Anonymous says:

    CNS – can you please ask why the government is not changing their methodology based on newer studies showing asymptomatic people are not infectious? Even WHO said they have no evidence they can transmit it.

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32405162/?fbclid=IwAR0_JL1SwWqKvwbXexW9MV1NFGhetIUlvKhpeBSKYdDFICQ9MgoFF40hkdE

    Why does the government not have to justify their outdated stance? Saying they can’t know is no longer an excuse. It is not justified to restrict movement of healthy people simply out of misinformed fear. What happened to ‘do no harm’? What happened to human rights?

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  12. Anonymous says:

    To all the rightwing personal liberty defenders that like to measure their personal wellness strategy via death counts, and enjoy (ironically) pointing to Sweden’s lax leftwing social welfare state freedoms as the template forward: they are #8 on the planet and rising fast on the deaths/1mln pop. It’s the same mindset that marvels and prides at a 7/8ths finished IKEA drawer set that had to be bound together with random fasteners from your workshop jar.

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  13. Anonymous says:

    Responding to the post of 2 persons testing positive who didn’t know they had covid19 or where they got it, and to the doubters and morons who reject safety restrictions – that goes to show how the virus can “hide” and that it’s OUT THERE! Thankfully those 2 people were healthy enough to withstand any serious effects but what about someone whose immunity system is compromised or who has pre-existing risk conditions?

    The same would apply, ‘don’t know where they caught it’ but the results could be deathly different. That is why restrictive measures MUST continue in Cayman at some reasonable levels for the next FEW months!

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    • Anonymous says:

      At some point we need to rely on people with compromised health conditions taking some personal responsibility to protect themselves. That includes having a health exam if they are unsure. Others need to carry on with life, we can’t live this way and a few months is unrealistic, this will not end in a few months.

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  14. Anonymous says:

    This whole lab staff don’t work on weekends is frustrating. If six days a week is too much to ask of the current staff then we need to get more people trained up.

    This “nothing happens on a Sunday” or more generally on the weekend mentality doesn’t fly when people are essentially being treated as prisoners and unable to leave their houses without a government approved excuse.

    It’s time for the government to get moving – every time we casually take a couple weeks to see how things are going we are crushing people’s livelihoods and the broader economy.

    I am sick of having to scramble back into my house at 7pm every night when there is no longer any scientific justification for this. Perhaps there never was but I don’t see the purpose in going back and questioning the government with the benefit of hindsight. By all means, continue the requirements for masks in public, social distancing and limit large group gatherings indoors. I am all for protecting people and avoiding unnecessary deaths but this is becoming tiresome and the justifications for these restrictions are wearing extremely thin.

    We should be free of these restrictions as of June 1. There is no good reason to wait another month.

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  15. Anonymous says:

    @11:26 pm. ALT’s press release said that their staff were tested on Thursday May 14th. Progressive tested on Friday May 15th. The procesing of test results is taking more than 5 days sometimes up to 10 days so it is unclear how any company would be able to say with any confidence that the staff members who returned to work only did so after receiveing negative reuslts because the results are not processed that quickly. Unless the comapny was able to jump he line for soem reason.

    From yesterdays press berifing, it appears that the press is now catching on as to how long of a lag there is between testing and results. Dr. Lee did mention that there is a need to clear the backlog of testing and results. The prsentation of the daily numbers is a big jumble, in my opinion.

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  16. Anonymous says:

    The entire global reaction to this pandemic has proven to be a colossal failure and illogical strategy apart from a few Asian countries.
    Look at the stats before and after lockdowns across the globe and you will see the lockdowns lifted even though many more people are infected than when the lockdowns began. The entire experiment failed.
    Many have realized their misguided strategy and changed paths.

    Protect the vulnerable and move on. Open the border.

    I guess we are slow learners…

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  17. Anonymous says:

    People arent going to the dentist for check ups for early dental disease and early signs of oral cancer.

    People arent going to the eye doctor for check ups for preventable early eye disease.

    People arent going to their dermatologist for routine check ups that can detect early skin cancer.

    10 weeks is enough singularly focused solely on one medical ailment to the detriment of other health needs.

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    • Anonymous says:

      THIS

    • Anonymous says:

      I read an article the other day that looked at a survey in the UK and said that already, delayed treatments for other health conditions, cancer, cardiac etc were now causing more preventable deaths than Covid and that this was going to increase rapidly. Open the damn country up, be sensible and protect the vunerable but let us get on with things as best we can.

  18. Anonymous says:

    Yesterday I went to the gym, grocery shopping, the beach, and to a restaurant for dinner. Of course in a country that has a realistic view of this illness. I feel very sorry for the Cayman public living under such restraints.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Me too…we should be getting on with life. The China flu is out. Tracing no longer makes sense. Those that elderly should continue their practices of isolation but life is for the living. Moral attacks do not work. Personal responsibility is the way forward.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Please do keep us posted. Send links to YouTube videos if you find yourself severely ill gasping for air in the hospital. We need case studies. Go everywhere in whatever country you’re in without a mask. Show us how it’s done.

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      • Anonymous says:

        He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Right and all the cases here in Cayman are gasping for air…….Thats right no one is in hospital so why are we locked up like prisoners?
        We ALL have a choice to stay locked up BUT that should be a personal one NOT a mandated one when there is no one in our hospitals and very few cases.

        By all means if you are scared stay home its your life and your right, as for me my choice is go to work and live my life.

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        • Anonymous says:

          We’re doing so well because of the government’s actions. You should write an open letter to the government outlining your reasons against the necessary measures. Go ahead, I’m sure it’ll be posted

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          • Anonymous says:

            Why write the letter.
            They will just keep their head in the sand and boarders closed for the next 1 to 5 years waiting for a vaccine right!

            Is that want you all want?
            Lots of expert’s that have been involved with vaccines say we will be lucky to have it in 12 to 18 months but could be years away.
            This is fact, like the fact that the hospitals are empty and you have a choice to stay home and hide while I have a choice to live my life and go out.

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            • Anonymous says:

              Go ahead. Explain to Dr Lee that his approach is overkill or whatever BS you’re saying. Give him your deep scientific reasons to effectively pursued him. He will probably tell you what’s clear, you’re bs artist that doesn’t known his backside from a hole in the ground.

      • Anonymous says:

        Please show us photos of you scared in a pantry with a can of spam.

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  19. Anonymous says:

    CNS, you should ask whether it’s possible that the PCR test is picking up old fragments of the virus which could be leading to false positives. It would certainly explain why none of the people are symptomatic. While it is generally accepted that many people never show symptoms (I’ve read that it could be anywhere from 5x to 10x the number of symptomatic people), the fact that not a single one of these people is symptomatic is a head-scratcher.

    I think the false positives are a more likely explanation than the idea that we somehow have a weaker mutated version of the virus or that vitamin D is killing it etc. If climate were such a major factor then places like Brazil wouldn’t be having issues. That said, no doubt a combination of UV, humidity, lower population density and spending more time outdoors are factors that help us and make transmission less likely.

    In any case, whatever you believe, false positives vs. weakened virus vs. 10x asymptomatic to symptomatic, since no one is effectively sick, I think the government should consider accelerating the plan to allow people to return to work. For all intents and purposes the lockdown has worked. Now let’s get back to work and allow people to earn a living. People have been suggesting for a while that the lockdown is causing more harm than the virus and I think we have finally reached the point where they are right. It’s time to put away the “if it saves one life at any costs argument”. Look around – even in countries where they have lost tens of thousands of people, they are opening up because they have realised that life must go on. While we are wise to mandate continued social distancing measures to prevent a flare-up, the time for a quasi-police state has come to an end.

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  20. Say it like it is says:

    “The HSA has not seen any sick patients with covid symptoms for 4 weeks”, but how many have they seen with flu symptoms?. It seems to me that Covid has been no worse than flu so far, yet we have turned our world upside down for Covid and cut ourselves off from the rest of humanity indefinitely. Could this just, possibly, be overkill (forgive the antonymic pun).

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    • Anonymous says:

      Do people go to the hospital for a flu? Or a cold? Mostly no.

      Weve got herd immunity…. let’s keep it up and get out economic disaster.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Those that are elderly should avoid public interaction. That is the way it should have been after they figured out that the death rate is vastly lower than imagined. We have killed Cayman and Western economies for nothing.

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      • Anon says:

        6.51am As of Feb 3rd the U.S had 10,000 flu deaths for the current flu season, so yes, I imagine a lot of the older folks go to the hospital for flu. As for herd immunity look at all the cases and deaths amongst the cruise sheep.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Do you watch any news at all??? This is NOT the flu!

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      • Anonymous says:

        Emotions and fear do not change the fact that people will die. CNN LIES to heighten fear and keep you watching. Reason and critical thinking is lost on CNN. Stay home if you are concerned and continue the guidelines.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Stop. I am a liberal. I am American and Caymanian. I don’t agree with us being locked up. The USA has their own issues. They NEED to be controlled more than us. They have overwhelmed hospitals, and not to mention plenty of oversight when it comes to caring for elderly and the vulnerable. Just look at any of the homeless people who just die in the streets, no one cares. Unfortunately and fortunately that has nothing to do with us so **** off. Stop with CNN bashing because you look stupid…

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          • Anonymous says:

            Btw the hospitals in the US have actually laid off staff they are not overwhelmed, look under the hood to see the actual facts! How many are in hospitals in Cayman, hmmmm – exactly, there is no need for all this….

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            • Anonymous says:

              They’ve laid off staff that do not deal with covid 19 patients. Show the full picture or firmly understand what you are talking about.

            • Anonymous says:

              NOT EVERYWHERE! That’s why some places can be more free

  21. Anonymous says:

    At Today’s Press Briefing Dr. Lee confirmed that their were 5 Positive cases. He also mentioned that the Construction industry had 6 Positives. If my Maths is correct that would bring the total to 11?

    CNS: 6 positives in the construction industry out of all the construction workers that have been tested so far. Nothing to do with today’s results.

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    • Anonymous says:

      So CNS, when were these 6 reported then. In addition, if memory serves me right, after the press conference on Friday, the news broke of 2 RCIPS members, 2 Progressive employees and 2 AL Thompson employees. Where are these 6 positives reported, I.e. as in what day was these results made public, IF at all. There seems to be a serious skew in the numbers this past week.

      CNS: They have not said when these six exactly were reported but it would have been over the last week or so when they started testing construction workers. The RCIPS officers were included in Friday’s results. There are lots of things to discuss here but you’re focusing on a non-issue.

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  22. Anonymous says:

    So when are helpers going to start getting tested ? We are at the 10,000 mark.

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  23. Anonymous says:

    I was a bit disappointed in Alden today. Wendy plainly said that people were asking this question(and they are) but he kept inferring that it was her that brought it up on here own.

    Wendy, You are not running for election and somebody needs to keep these politicians in check as we won’t get it from the other members of the press.

    Alden, I believe what Wendy was trying to say was that it doesn’t matter who said it but doing it even if a small amount shows solidarity with your people. Today you proved to me that you don’t feel our woes and you are enjoying this little game of power that we the people have given you. Your goodwill has eroded and continues to erode and outbursts like today will make sure this continues..

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    • Anonymous says:

      To be fair to the premier, I think that people asking them to take a pay cut is petty and a sideshow. I appreciate the sentiment that perhaps they will be more motivated to loosen restrictions if they themselves are suffering, but I don’t believe that Alden doesn’t get that people are suffering. I think his actions are motivated by care for all the people of these islands.

      I think the problem is that he seriously believes that we need to maintain these restrictions to avoid a significant number of deaths. Rather than trying to focus on MLA pay, the media should be pressing Dr. Lee harder on why it is that none of the positive tests are symptomatic. And why they think it’s justified to maintain a curfew when no one is in the hospital. We need to hold Dr. Lee’s feet to the fire now. He has done a good job but the only thing that’s going to allow Alden to reduce these restrictions and eventually open up the border, is if he is getting the advice that this is a reasonable approach. I don’t think he is getting that advice. The comments by Dr. Lee about a “weakened” virus last week were concerning. I don’t think he has any basis to make such a statement, and if he does, he should be asked to present it.

      The stuff about pay cuts is a side show and we need to work harder to get the government moving into a more reasonable system moving forward where people are responsible for their own social distancing. If the police see people breaking the law, by all means, they should be empowered to ticket them.

      I was all for the lockdown and am still for masks in public, and limited group gatherings. But I am over these unnecessary restrictions. There is no need to limit the number of hours I am permitted to exercise if I am doing it by myself. On what basis is this restricted? Am I not a free person? What harm can be demonstrated in allowing this? If the shops feel they need to keep the letter restrictions for now, that’s fine. That’s their prerogative as private businesses.

      But there is no longer a justification for closing the beaches on Sunday, or for a hard curfew every evening.

      We can’t nanny people forever. I think the government’s paternalistic attitude towards residents of these islands is now misplaced. Yes, some stupid people will flout the rules. Hopefully police will catch them and ticket them accordingly. They should be encouraged to do so. If the beach is so scary, patrol them heavily. But we live in a free and democratic society. It’s time to give people power back over their lives.

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  24. Anonymous says:

    There are reports from Australia that the virus can lay dormant after exposure for 12 weeks and then you show symptoms.
    If this is true the lock downs are not going to help at all.

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  25. Anonymous says:

    Is it possible that people who have had the virus and are now better are triggering these positive results? Similar to the concern in Korea where people were thought to be reinfected but were later shown to be false positives:

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  26. Anonymous says:

    What about ill-educated objectors like yourself who are more than willing to infect innocent and compliant people for your own selfish and greedy reasons. Go to hell!

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    • Pastor Alfredo says:

      The willingness of a huge swathe of the population to be unthinkingly compliant without looking at the facts objectively is probably more dangerous and worrying than the virus.

      As has been said a hundred times before, innocent and compliant people can choose to continue to barricade themselves in their house if they wish to. That way there is no way that Ill educated objectors like me can infect them with a virus that they probably won’t even realise they have once they’ve got it. Their choice.

      My choice? I’d prefer my liberty and I’d prefer to get on with my life. Just like an increasingly large section of society are also realising. I’m prepared to risk catching a damp squib virus in exchange for that. If you aren’t, continue to stay in your house forever. You definitely won’t catch it that way and the fact that I start going to the beach on even days as well as odd, fly to Miami for the weekend, get my haircut and send my kid back to school so, you know, they get educated, matters not a jot to your health outcome if you choose to continue with the isolation charade.

      Look at the facts. The hospitals are empty. Nobody died. Hundreds have it and don’t even realise.

      I’ll take my chances. If you don’t want to take yours then stay in your house and watch CNN while everyone else tries to get back to normal.

      Pastor Alfredo

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    • Anonymous says:

      Your unreasonable fear should not dictate what I do in my life.

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  27. Pastor Alfredo says:

    This crossed the border of ridiculousness some days, of not weeks, ago.

    9,401 people have been tested and 134 of them have come back positive. That’s about a 1.5% hit rate and virtually all of them are asymptomatic. That means they’ve contracted the virus and DON’T EVEN REALISE THEY HAVE IT. The statistics suggest 13 of those 134 are showing symptoms usually include a fever or cough. None are in hospital. I’ve probably felt worse the morning after a session at royal palms.

    If you extrapolate the 1.5% hit rate to the approximate 55,000 remaining residents who haven’t been tested then we can assume that there are around 825 asymptomatic people in the community who have it but have yet to be tested to confirm they have it. Let’s even knock off those 10% of people who show symptoms so we’re only talking about the 90% who are asymptomatic – about 740 community cases that we’ve yet to test.

    Add the 740 to the 134 we already know about and were at 874 probably existing cases out of a population of 65,000.

    That’s nearly 1,000 cases and zero hospitalisations. If you discount the unfortunate cruise shipper who was in rude health and managed to survive three heart attacks in the days leading up to his death, singularly caused by the Corona virus then we’ve had zero deaths too.

    Do the sums and Google the law of large numbers to understand why 347,000 deaths out of a global population of 7.58 billion is barely a rounding error. You think it’s worth carrying on with this lockdown to try to suppress a disease that statistically looks less dangerous than diving the kittiwake or using a pedestrian crossing on West bay road at dusk?

    Open the place up, for god’s sake. It’s abundantly clear that the risk is infinitesimally small.

    Pastor Alfredo

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    • Anonymous says:

      The number of thumbs down on this is due to CNN news watchers I imagine. CNN lies and gins up fears to get you to watch their version of life. Reason and critical thinking have long since left that news outlet. Stay home if you choose and follow guidelines. Life is for living.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Shut the F up, CNN does not lie… what CNN does is report the truth in America. You do not live in America so shut the F up.

        I’m a liberal. I’m American and I agree with all of the posters saying to open the economy on island because we have not suffered. All you need to know is that just because someone disagrees with you doesn’t mean CNN has anything to do with it. You need to stop with that nonsense and start living in your own country or move to America where you can be in the very very very very small minority who supports Fox News. Bye.

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  28. Expat says:

    The Premier is doing an excellent job. Years from now, people will look back and remember him as the leader with a set of cojones who saved the people of these islands because he didn’t crack under pressure. Kudos to you Alden McLauglin!

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  29. Fed up says:

    Are they sick? Are they in the hospital??…. Then who cares!

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  30. Anonymous says:

    If you still haven’t figured out what this show is all about, well…

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    • Anonymous says:

      Divide and conquer works for radical leftists. They have been doing it for years on TV media news outlets and they are doing it now. If people do not understand they are being manipulated by a very dishonest media, then I feel sorry for their lack of critical thinking. They pick an enemy and trash everything minute thing about him and dismiss any attempt to unite the populace behind a common cause. They have done it to Trump, Boris Johnson, etc. They must win cause they want their power back. They are not better mind you….mostly worse but they need you to believe they are right!

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  31. Anonymous says:

    If they do not allow us to open up businesses now they should prepare for lawsuits. We should have been free to open weeks ago. There is no scientific reason to deny businesses to open, none. Under what model to they continue the complete destruction of the economy? Ill educated representatives should not be an excuse.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Will you also demand compensation if you don’t get the expected number of customers after your business opens?

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  32. Anonymous says:

    Guys. With more testing… more positives. We all get the flu.

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    • Tupac says:

      You sound just like Brazil’s president… “it’s just a little flu”. Their cases have now quadrupled and the death toll is skyrocketing. Mass graves are being dug as a result. Yeah pal, let’s ahead and follow that path. Very bright.

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    • Anonymous says:

      6:15 pm, actually you sound like Trump. Stop watching Fox News.

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      • Anonymous says:

        I actually hate Trump. Don’t watch American news, because we arent America.

        You dillweeds think that because other countries have their own issues we should follow suit! Stop politicizing this flu. It’s not going away and your ignorance in comments like the above are why you will be easily controlled for a long time. Have fun with that.

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        • Pastor James says:

          Whoa buddy… no one is politicizing anything. You just sound like the buffoons who do politicize this very dangerous virus for personal gain. The disease has killed 100,000 in the US because of idiots that think like you. Stfu!

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          • Anonymous says:

            Whoa buddy, you’re being led into economic disaster because we are fine. The measures worked, now reopen.

        • Anonymous says:

          You like to stir poop? Yes we will “easily be controlled for a long time”. Why don’t you let the medical experts do their job? If you can do better… go to medical school, take the top job and show us how it’s done. The Premier already said we will see more easing within the next few weeks. Use that time to study medicine and write some articles in medical journals. Your brilliance just oozes from your comments..

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      • Anonymous says:

        Leave Trump alone.

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      • Anonymous says:

        You sound irrational and incapable of critical thought! CNN /MSNBC has lied too much. They are a business, and will say anything to get you to watch. They feed you lies and twisted thought daily to keep you believing in their conspiracy news.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Do they really feed us lies? Can you prove that with tangible evidence or are you only talking with the tongue that’s up trump’s backside? Keep your unproven conspiracies to yourself. Moron!

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        • Anonymous says:

          My god. My post is about Cayman, not America. So everyone screaming about other country presidents (both of whom are total dillweeds) or screaming about CNN Fox News etc needs to evolve. This is Cayman so let’s focus on how we’ve flattened the curve so let’s get back to some normal.

          Everyone should be allowed to the beach everyday. For whatever as long as they social distance.

          Everyone should be able to go boating everyday with their family if they have a boat.

          Everyone should be able to go to the shops everyday but wear a mask.

          Move on. If you want to stay in, no one is forcing you out. Wear a hazmat suit if you need to go out if that makes you feel better.

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    • Anonymous says:

      6:15 pm, I intended to give you a thumbs down, so you only have 5 thumbs up.

      CNS, can you fix the system that when you inadvertently check one or other of the thumbs, you can just click on the other to correct? I believe that it worked like this at one time. I would hate for 6:15 pm to get my vote. Rubbish Trumpism.

      CNS: Sorry, I can’t at this time.

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  33. Anonymous says:

    According to reports coming from the UK people can test positive but not be infectious.

    It seems that traces of the COVID-19 virus trigger the reagent but they’ve no longer active. The quoted timeline is about 11 days. Maybe HSA should check this out?

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    • Anonymous says:

      This highly cited study out of South Korea showed that people testing positive in PCR test were shedding dead virus (the PCR test detects virus particles but not the whether the virus is live or dead).

      https://fortune.com/2020/05/19/coronavirus-twice-infectious-contagious/

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      • Anonymous says:

        9:52 pm, very interesting Fortune article. This may have been why people here were being held so long in isolation— the PCR test was registering dead virus remains.

        I noted another poster questioning why there is this steady flow of asymptomatic persons.

        Could it indeed be remnants of virus?

        Maybe health authorities should add a question about whether they had some of the typical symptoms months ago?

        • Anonymous says:

          I know 2 people who tested positive & never had any symptoms, last week, last month or back in March. They were shocked to find they were positive & have no idea where they got it as they live together & have followed all the rules.

        • Anonymous says:

          COVID-19 is sneaky. It hijacks healthy cells instead of killing them like with other viruses. That’s why there isn’t necessarily any cell degradation, even while the host is going about their business shedding billions of virus particles everywhere they go. It is unlike anything human medicine has encountered before, and all the longheld medical assumptions that might apply to say a seasonal flu, (ie. about symptoms, areas of impact, immunity response, timeline for recovery etc) are out the window. It can lay dormant and resurge two or three times. That’s another reason why we (and medical/research community) needs more time.

  34. Anonymous says:

    Are our samples being sent off Island for genome testing?!! Do we have any data??

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  35. Anonymous says:

    4 weeks?!? I thought it was supposed to be opening up further in 1 week?
    Or does he really mean July 1st which is still 5 weeks away.

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  36. Anonymous says:

    The Government due to this extended lockdown has done more damage to Cayman than Covid 19 ever could have done on its own.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Can the Premiere tell us how many of the UK “servicemen” that were flown to Cayman for “hurricane preparedness” were COVID-19 positive upon arrival?

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      • Anonymous says:

        None was tested on arrival. They were all quarantined as usual for arriving passengers & tested after their 14 day stay. It was announced that 1 did test positive. Then they get retested & are generally released after 2 negatives. Dr Lee did say that some passengers repeatedly tested positive but were released after talking to Public Health UK. It was decided they were probably still shedding dead cells. Goes to show that testing can give ambiguous results (am I positive now, or was I weeks ago & now shedding but can’t infect another person as it’s not active cells).

  37. Anonymous says:

    And the pi k elephant in the room. good for you asking the question specifically pay cuts for mla and ministers never once civil servants. you razzled him for the rest of the show

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    • Anonymous says:

      I understood today also that construction workers awaiting test results would be allowed to work pending results. Makes absolutely no sense to me. I thought the whole idea was to try to minimize risk of spreading the virus on the job, especially given how closely construction workers are forced to interact.

      Comparing this decision to the decision hinging on sampling for the Brac made no sense to me either.

      Apples and oranges.

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      • Anonymous says:

        They’re not a risk, they’re well and have no symptoms, do some research please, this is not how you catch it! Even if you do catch this you’ve got more chance of dying in a car than this virus, have you stopped driving?

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        • Anonymous says:

          Come on, Vladimir, stop trying to present yourself like you’re an expert on this virus. If you knew so much you would not be here simply stirring up ish.

    • Anonymous says:

      Feigning confusion at the question having certainly read of the gestures elsewhere…what an eel.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Well it was a bit like asking a Turkey to vote for Christmas

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  38. Anonymous says:

    There are a number of employers wanting to bring back workers that are working from home. I get the economy has to be opened but surely these people are a low priority?

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