COVID-19 tests continue negative trend

| 26/06/2020 | 87 Comments
Cayman News Service
CMO Dr John Lee at Friday’s press briefing

(CNS): Another 391 negative test samples for COVID-19 were reported by Chief Medical Officer Dr John Lee on Friday, as well as another reduction in active cases. This week public health officials have processed 2,287 tests and found just one positive sample for the virus. Meanwhile, active cases have now fallen to just nine from the tally of 196 positive cases since testing began in March.

The hospitals have now processed 22,657 samples as part of a mass screening programme that has run down the majority of cases reported, as very few people were tested because they were unwell. The majority of positive cases in Cayman throughout the last few months have been asymptomatic, as are the remaining nine active cases.

Speaking at Friday’s COVID-19 briefing, Dr Lee also reported that 383 antibody or IgG tests had been carried out by both the Health Services Authority and Health City Cayman Islands.

He said the results were showing a positive rate of about 1.6% for the antibodies. The majority of people who have undergone this test so far are healthcare workers, as well as some of those who have previously tested positive.

Dr Lee explained that health workers are more likely to have been exposed than most people. He said that these first results have not yet been properly analysed and the details will be published shortly, but there is already an early indication, as expected, that there has not been a huge penetration of COVID-19 in the general community.

“You would have thought that among healthcare workers, being front-line, they …would have been pretty well exposed to the chances of picking it up, especially early on when we did not know that COVID was here, but it provably was,” he said.

He added that there would be more information as things go along and the test numbers grow. “It is showing what we expected but I must say the percentage is a little lower than I would have expected it to be.”

However, the PCR testing is continuing. The premier revealed that with fewer people in the screened groups requesting a test, the testing is being opened up to the wider community. People can now request a PCR test and register on line here.

Meanwhile, the CMO reported that a batch of 100 sample results sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) for quality control were all confirmed as accurate, except for three that had been spoiled in-transit.


Share your vote!


How do you feel after reading this?
  • Fascinated
  • Happy
  • Sad
  • Angry
  • Bored
  • Afraid
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Tags: , ,

Category: Health, Medical Health

Comments (87)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. Anonymous says:

    Dying of, as opposed to dying with, coronavirus are 2 very different things but it seems they are being recorded as one and the same with the tendency to record them as OF rather than WITH.

    Wearing masks in public, keeping physically distant to an extent, and not sneezing into eachothers faces is a good idea to prevent the spread. If you’re carrying a preexisting illness, best not to catch it either. Or if you’re rather old.

    This is not a challenging disease to handle, but we’ve managed to turn it into an extinction level threat.

    The history classes of the year 2100 will be wondering wtf was wrong with us.

    We have wrecked the global economy. For little reason. More will die from opiods in the US this year. And regular flu. Cancer. Pneumonia. Etc. Etc. Etc. Its utterly baffling how easy it was to turn proudly free thinkers into subservient terrified pussy cats overnight.

    11
    8
    • Anonymous says:

      6:25 am: You sound rather silly to me: whether you are dying of. or prematurely dying with, makes no difference. Still dying.

      Another thing, if you are paying attention to the US news Where counties and state are reversing their lockdowns because of rising numbers of cases and stressed hospital facilities, you will understand how difficult it is to contain this virus. It is the nature of the beast.

      It is sad that people have to die from cancer and pneumonia or opioids. We struggle with those. My own father died at 38 from pneumonia while sailing to keep food in our mouths. These are difficult diseases that mankind has been battling for ages. Do we need to add to these untimely deaths?

      And if you think that Coronavirus does not spell death you are mistaken. My brother in NY survived, but he has now developed angina that was not previously diagnosed. Now he is on medication for that.

      Your shallow thinking is just silly and selfish.

      6
      1
    • Anonymous says:

      I would be willing to bet you my life savings that more people will not die of the flu this year than from COVID-19. If you really think that’s true, you’re a complete idiot. More likely though, you’re just a blowhard troll.

      • Anonymous says:

        you may be right, its usually around 500,000 people die annually from the flu and flu-related respiratory issues

        but i think the posters point was that there are many very serious threats out there, and we don’t shut down the global economy for any of them

        • Anonymous says:

          1:22 pm: so what is your solution? Survival of the fittest regardless of the sacrifices? What do you think is the better option?

        • Anonymous says:

          False premises make for bad arguments. So far, despite the drastic measures taken by governments around the world, more than 500,000 have already died of COVID-19 this year. We still have a half year to go and there are fears that the worst is yet to come.
          And, added to another one of the poster’s false premises, more people won’t die of opioid overdoses this year in the US than of COVID-19. When he makes wildly inaccurate claims, it’s hard to take the poster’s “point” seriously.

  2. Anonymous says:

    If you open up these borders Alden you will erased all these quarantine efforts on the very first flight into Cayman. I for one DO Not want to have to listen to another painful Press Briefing nor see what this so call harmless virus can do.

    42
    11
    • Anonymous says:

      What exactly have you seen this virus do? How many young healthy people have you seen perish from it? I agree however the Press briefings were painful…painful to watch due to incompetence, fumbling, and scripture reading.

      21
      17
      • Anonymous says:

        I’d love to buy you a one-way ticket to Bournemouth or Florida. Too bad you won’t last long enough to report back exactly what the virus ‘can do’

        11
        10
        • Anonymous says:

          I am in SWFL. I am not aware of anyone around me or in our large residential complex who is positive or died. One died in March though. Most people wear masks.

          1
          4
          • Anonymous says:

            Well, with the average age and COVID susceptibility of the people in Naples, you all better be wearing masks!
            And by the way, these two sentences contradict each other: “I am not aware of anyone around me or in our large residential complex who is positive or died. One died in March though.”

        • Anonymous says:

          Please buy me a ticket to Florida. I have family and friends in Florida. They are all doing quite well.

          1
          2
        • Anonymous says:

          These people are something else. Their homes are a dump yet they keep polluting our place with their verbal refuse.

          They would flat out refuse a free ticket to Bournemouth or Florida.

      • Anonymous says:

        From two professors of epidemiology (Lund Univetsity and Omea University, respectively) have reported finding that:

        “The lockdowns enforced far and wide, combined with the responsible actions of many citizens, have undoubtedly mitigated the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and saved lives. Indeed, in cases such as Sweden – where lockdown was eschewed and social distancing rules were relatively relaxed – the virus has claimed an order of magnitude more lives than in its pro-lockdown neighbours, Norway and Finland. “

      • Anonymous says:

        8:56 pm: I guess that the Premier would say, “thank you”: that outcome is exactly what he was aiming for—no deaths.

        Although he did accede that even here in Cayman there were anxious moments with regard to some of the hospitalizations, few though they were.

        Here are some statistics that are easily verifiable to mull over:
        No lockdown Sweden: 5,280 deaths
        Lockdown neighbours:
        – Finland: 328 deaths
        – Norway: 249 deaths.

        Even allowing for population differences—Sweden has twice the population of the two neighbours—these are very telling statistics.

        And can anyone tell me what the sacrifice of these unnecessary deaths achieved for Sweden?

        The dubious herd immunity? Even if that could be relied on, Sweden’s estimate of a 20% infection rate was dashed by that country’s immunoglobulin test outcome of 7.3%.

        Check it out.

    • Anonymous says:

      I will take that bet!
      Given that only 0.01% of the worlds population has or has had the virus I would say the chances of someone brining it in with a 72 hour pre test and screening would be very slim. Especially if we opened to Canada, UK and other Caribbean Islands.
      Even NY only has a infection rate of just over 1%.

      5
      3
      • Anonymous says:

        Alden thinks Florida has an infection rate of 30%. Quite why he thinks that who knows. juJu thinks the planet is only 6000 years old so I guess science and facts are not aN insurmountable obstacle for our politicians.

        5
        2
      • Anonymous says:

        Yes, let’s upon up to Jamaica! That will really get our economy going. Brilliant idea!

  3. Anonymous says:

    I found this quote on CNN – it will save the Premier time when he explains that in retrospect, and in light of the surge in Covid-19 cases, that opening Cayman’s bars was a bad idea

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott acknowledged on Friday that he had allowed the state’s bars to reopen too soon.

    “If I could go back and redo anything, it probably would’ve been to slow down the opening of bars,” he said in an interview with CNN affiliate KVIA.

    “Now seeing in the aftermath of how quickly the coronavirus spread in the bar setting – you know, a bar setting in reality just doesn’t work with a pandemic. People go to bars to get close and to drink and to socialize. And that’s the kind of thing that stokes the spread of the coronavirus. So, sure, in hindsight it may have been better to have slowed the opening of the bar setting,” he said.

    Texas has seen its case numbers spike dramatically this week. The state reported its highest daily jump in new cases on Thursday, while Friday saw 5,707 new cases and 28 more related deaths.

    18
    5
  4. anon says:

    It’s not clear to me why health workers are high risk, apart from Health City which was a special case, how many health workers excluding Health City contracted the virus?. Very few positive cases were admitted to hospital.The supermarkets had a number of positives as some of their workers were exposed to hundreds of customers every day, sometimes in excess of a thousand.

    11
    2
  5. Anonymous says:

    When will they end the surname letter days at the supermarket? I work Monday to Friday most of the day, but because my last name starts with “C”, I cannot shop on Saturday. And with the full curfew on Sundays, I cant pick up something then.

    This is very stressful as my essential groceries are running low.

    Please, please end the surname shopping restrictions. So stressful for me.

    2
    20
    • Anonymous says:

      It’s already ended! Hence no checks of ID’s any more. Try to keep up with the news!!

      31
    • Anonymous says:

      Already has ended. Read up. Stay informed

      23
    • Anonymous says:

      You haven’t been keeping up to what is happening around you, Supermarkets and Price Right and Cost U Less have been letting people in anyday of week regardless of surname initial for past 2 weeks now.

      16
    • Anonymous says:

      If only you would put as much effort into reading the restrictions each day as you did into typing that whole thing out…

      7
      1
  6. Anonymous says:

    Where are the conspiracy theory morons? Where is the permanent lockdown that was triggered by covid 19? Where is the British Military invasion? The government always had a plan that’s being followed as they said from day one. You conspiracy theory idiots should limit your tv time, it’s destroying what’s left of your brains.

    23
    12
    • Anonymous says:

      Good job, Premier and Dr Lee.

      And for those who were lauding Sweden for its hands-off approach, Sweden’s cases have not peaked much less flattened. Sweden is rising on the Worldometer ranking of country cases, from highest to lowest. It had been holding at 25th place for a while. Last night when I checked Sweden had slipped to 23rd, ever closer to US at the top.

      And Its neighbors are watching—EU countries looking to open borders are excluding Sweden.

      See Recent article:

      https://www.euronews.com/2020/06/02/coronavirus-is-hard-hit-sweden-being-snubbed-by-its-scandinavian-neighbours

      Sweden’s herd immunity experiment has failed at the cost of many, many unnecessary deaths. In the meantime the herd immunity theory is not appearing to be an answer at all. In fact, the bottom is rapidly falling out of that theory.

      12
      10
      • Anonymous says:

        Another sign of the disease that is the white superiority complex, is this illogical belief that anything Scandinavian is better.

        So many People here latched on to the Swedish model and mocked the Cayman Islands and this government for their approach loudly citing Sweden chapter and verse. While I truly wish the Sweden model would have worked, it had all the hallmarks of a disaster in the making.

        But here’s the thing a lot of you- especially you expat lawyers need to hear:

        “You can’t out-smart everything in this life”. Sometimes the only way through a storm is to tie everything down and sail on through and that means suffering and sacrifice.

        To most people in the world suffering and sacrifice are a part of everyday life. But we have all seen that many of you who came here to make money would sacrifice all of us to ensure you don’t suffer.

        Now if an African leader had taken the same approach as Sweden, they would have been called reckless and a despot. Sadly and perhaps fortunately for those who believe in white supremacy, it has taken the mighty failure of this Disastrous Scandinavian experiment to show us the right way to deal with Covid.

        4
        3
        • Anonymous says:

          Keep your insecurities to yourself. Within a few weeks Jamaica also adopted the approach of – We have to learn to live with this virus.” If you don’t even know what our neighbors do, don’t try to be an authority on racism.

          • Anonymous says:

            Jamaica did that for a different reason. They couldn’t afford to manage the issue.

            They wouldn’t even let their own citizens return home.

    • Anonymous says:

      Drinking with the leftist statisticians.

      7
      7
      • Anonymous says:

        It’s a right wing issue as most right wingers have, well, issues.

        4
        1
        • Anonymous says:

          Yet it’s left wing States suffering the most from the virus.

          1
          4
          • Anonymous says:

            It’s because more people live in those places. Hence keeping the electoral college because Republicans can’t win the popular vote. No one wants to live in Nebraska or any Dakota… they want to live in New York or California. Just wait more Republicans are going to die because they’re idiots and they listen to trump.

      • Anonymous says:

        11:51 am: I don’t know what you mean about “left wing statisticians”.

        There are sources of raw statistics for anyone to access and confirm themselves. All you have to do is search for them. The Internet is a mine of good information if you use it intelligently.

        Stop labeling and offer something of value to the discussion.

    • Anonymous says:

      Yes where is the “there is no plan” moron now?

      6
      6
      • Anonymous says:

        That’s no conspiracy. That’s facts. If you think that they’ve had a plan for any of this then just re-listen to the Minister of health go on about a jack ass again…..Or Alden attacked James-Austin Smith for being a young buff lawyer.

        6
        2
      • Anonymous says:

        I am over here. So tell me, what is the plan again? To form a committee to have a plan?

    • Anonymous says:

      I agree with you. And all the Dr Battur etc with all his conspiracy theories that has only been heard about and from since March 25th. But none of them seems to have a vaccine nor a cure for Coviid-19

      1
      5
  7. Anonymous says:

    For now, but the bar openings are going to mash it up.

    18
    2
  8. C'Mon Now! says:

    …but there is already an early indication, as expected, that there has not been a huge penetration of COVID-19 in the general community.

    Does anyone else remember when the Premier was telling us they were sure there were 1,000 active cases in the Community?

    6
    10
    • Anonymous says:

      You also remember we were locked down VERY early to prevent? Or you only have selective memory?

      13
      5
      • Anonymous says:

        Do you remember the Premier said 1,000 on a couple of weeks ago and long after the lockdown? Selective memory!

        8
        6
    • Anonymous says:

      Where did they hide the 800 bodies?

      8
      10
      • Anonymous says:

        That was only if they did not take the measures they did, you fool! Geez, you must be dense.

        11
        6
        • Anonymous says:

          Quite wrong. Sweden is proof. They had more deaths last June than this June.

          6
          5
          • Anonymous says:

            5:04 pm: your argument that Sweden’s approach has worked because it had more deaths last year June than June 2020 is rather lame. We are not discussing their capacity to keep Coronavirus victims from dying. We are discussing the number of cases. And as long as the virus is around there is risk for hospitalization, deaths, permanent damage to health, unproductive work days, etc.

            And what is more for Sweden right now is that EU member countries are considering maintaining closed borders to Swedes.

            That in itself is a devastating outcome. Think what it would be like if neighboring countries would close their borders to Cayman as part of their reopening strategy.

            4
            5
            • Anonymous says:

              Given we are born to die, physical and mental illnesses of all sorts, famine, poverty, what percentage of us aren’t ill on one form or another? So no, it’s not a matter of how many of us catch a virus that we may not even feel ill, it’s a matter of how many people die!

              1
              2
          • Anonymous says:

            5:04 pm: You are quite mistaken in your view of Sweden as being “proof” that lockdown was unnecessary. To date the number of deaths in Sweden is 5,280.

            Sweden has nothing to boast about — Sweden is now ranked among the top 25 countries in the world with the highest number of cases: Sweden is #23 on the list, China is #22, Colombia is #21. That is the company that Sweden is keeping, as it rises among the ranks of countries struggling with containing the virus. Sweden has definitely not flattened its curve–its cases are continuing to rise.

            As to your point of lower deaths in June in Sweden over last year June, right now only three countries in the world are reporting new coronavirus deaths — the US, Mexico, and Guatemala.

            As far as using deaths as a measure of the impact of the disease, you do realize that some survivors of coronavirus are left with permanent health damage that they may not even be aware of until they get a check up or something fails?

            5
            3
            • Anonymous says:

              So a country that did NOT lock down is 23? Should it not be, by far, the worst country in the world?

              2
              2
              • Anonymous says:

                Exactly, they are better than many, unfortunately worse than many, so sort of average, but without destroying their economy, education system and suffering from collateral health crises. That is the justification for the Swedish model which most seem to want to ignore as it doesn’t fit their views or agenda, or they simply don’t get it.

                The UK is just gradually coming out of a very strict lockdown – where are they in the league tables……

              • Anonymous says:

                7:44 pm, Sweden is 23rd among 215 countries, with 1 being the worst (US) and 215 being the best in containing the virus.

                These rankings are done on actual cases not on cases per Mil population.

                Sweden has Population of 10.1 million while the US has 331 mil. That is the difference.

                Check http://www.Worldometers.com for other statistical comparisons.

  9. Elvis says:

    We have done awesome throughout this covid pandemic so far, great leadership from our commanders. Our greatest threat now is the. Rest of the world, especially USA we need to box clever now and keep the borders closed

    32
    7
  10. Anonymous says:

    Way to go, Cayman! Now, please find a way for me to return before California kills me

    7
    10
    • Anonymous says:

      Don’t worry Caymanian in California. You will be alright. I’m more concerned for the paranoid haters in Cayman. God will find a way to deal with them.

      4
      4
  11. Anonymous says:

    So can I get my pool cleaned now?

    4
    16
  12. Anonymous says:

    Alden says Miami has a 30% infection rate. This is his fact and no doubt how he bases his decisions. Yet according to the Miami Herald today the infection rate is 14.3%. Plus, we all know that more testing at first rises the numbers of positives and then the numbers declines because not everyone has coronavirus. This trend has happened throughout the world. Why? It is simply not a guarantee that one will get the virus. Miami Population 2,717,550. Total Cases 30,195. Deaths 946. Miami, one of the retirement home meccas of the United States.

    13
    11
    • Anonymous says:

      Same guy who had to have many millions in high schools. Yet a decade on our education system has failed us – while he is in power. 800 deaths. 1,000 positives. Field hospitals. No clue what destruction he has done, is doing and will do.

      8
      4
    • Anonymous says:

      Yeah he might have misspoken there. I believe the correct stat was that Miami-Dade has 30% of all Florida’s cases of Coronavirus. That’s still a crazy stat and shows the density of the spread in that limited area.

    • Anonymous says:

      2,717,550 people. Total Cases 30,195 = 1.11%
      simple math

  13. Anonymous says:

    Just wondering if people that were employed in the tourism industry would be given the antibody test. Also If people who had major flu like symptoms in January – March (before COVID 19 testing) would be tested as well.

    Very few people with symptoms would have been tested because when the flu hotline is called and you tell them your symptoms they tell you to self isolate for two weeks. If a true figure of potential COVID 19 positive’s is wanted they might just want to test these people (whether through the drive through or go to their home and test them.

    15
    1
  14. Anonymous says:

    Open the gyms. Please.

    7
    26
    • Anonymous says:

      Take your roids and hush

      14
      4
      • Anonymous says:

        Those will be the ones that will be safe, as haven’t they discovered a good treatment with steroids? Lol

    • Anonymous says:

      It was already announced that gyms would reopen July 5th as long as the good results continue to come in with no resurgence of the virus noted. Not long now

      9
      1
    • Anonymous says:

      Yeah no, google home calisthenics. It’s almost July 2020, are there still people that don’t understand how this virus works? It’s killed nearly half a million people now. One would think the narcissistic body image set would have developed some high-level self-perseverance inclinations by now, not the opposite. Sheesh.

      9
      9
      • Say it like it is says:

        11.14pm It’s not killed a single resident in the Cayman Islands and 190 of the 196 positives never knew they had it, so yes one would think the penny would have dropped by now with most intelligent contributors to this website, as we can all see how the virus works here.

        8
        3
      • Anonymous says:

        A mere fraction of other causes of deaths. Now doctors are using an interesting word “linked” as opposed to “cause”, thus increasing the numbers of Covid deaths. People laugh at Sweden but this month their number of deaths are the same as last year’s. Hmmm.

        5
        4
        • Anonymous says:

          Your measure is just number of deaths? You need to continue hmmming.

          First of all, even one death is terrible for the person, the family, the community, the future of any country.

          Second, even if you don’t die and do recover from Covid-19, you can suffer permanent health damage, not to mention loss of productivity and the personal and national economic and emotional impacts of battling and treating the illness.

          1
          2
          • Anonymous says:

            Wow. I like the line even one death is terrible for the person, the family, the community, the future of any country. One, how does a person know he or she has died? Two, people die all the time! Actually since the beginning of time and amazingly countries continue to have futures! Given you your pathetic analysis of what one death does to my country, your scientific assessment of permanent health damage is also questionable!

        • Anonymous says:

          no one’s laughing dude. People are dying and unnecessarily so.

          Imagine how many less would have died had they protected their vulnerable and practiced greater social isolation?

          If you want to go and live there, you are free to leave.

    • Anonymous says:

      Given the antibody test results, open the country please! Yes yes some or many will say this is proof we must remain closed…but for how long? What magic event is going to change that stance? this is now becoming a denial of our civil liberties and human rights.

      9
      13
      • Anonymous says:

        As long as there’s an effective treatment.

        1
        3
      • Anonymous says:

        You remind me of the type of person who would jump up and open a plane door at 30,000feet because they won’t serve you alcohol and its your right to get it…

    • Anonymous says:

      Exercise from home please

      12
      4

Leave a Reply to Jake Spellings Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.