Over 100 local people come through COVID-19
(CNS): Another seven people have tested positive for COVID-19 since Friday, all of whom are asymptomatic. And despite the growing number of cases in the Cayman Islands, 102 people have now acquired but recovered from the virus, most with few adverse effects. Chief Medical Officer Dr John Lee said Monday in a short release that the six of the latest positive cases were picked up in the screening process.
The seventh sample was taken from a returning traveller who is already in quarantine. Contact tracing is now underway for these latest cases, which were part of a batch of 786 tests, the rest of which were negative.
The screen testing has now taken samples from 14,733 people and a total of 171 people have been positive since the first confirmed case on the island in March. That first patient, who was brought here from a cruise ship for emergency medical treatment, has been the only fatality here during the pandemic.
Now 102 people are fully recovered leaving 68 active cases; only one person has symptoms but has not been admitted to hospital. No one has been admitted to hospital in relation to the coronavirus since mid-April.
One of the six positive cases reported on Monday was an employee of CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank, which said its Main Street office building was cleaned over the weekend. The sample was one of 82 taken from the bank so far and is the only positive case there. Management said they were in contact with the staff member, who is now self-isolating at home and “receiving all the necessary support”.
CIBC’s Managing Director for Cayman Operating Company, Mark McIntyre, said the testing programme is an ongoing process.
“We assure both our staff and our clients that the safety of staff, clients and the community will continue to be paramount in our minds and we will remain in full compliance with any HSA directives,” he said, adding that the bank continues to implement and enforce a number of safety measures and protocols daily to keep everyone on site safe.
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Category: Health, Medical Health
Still not getting tested. Those blue smurfs look ridiculous!
Not suggesting we rush to open the borders, but it is pretty clear whatever strain of this virus is here is not a thing.
No one is sick, no one is dying, no one is even displaying any symptoms.
Maybe we need to ask Dr. Lee to comment on the strange and disproportionate number of asymptomatic cases. It’s odd that we haven’t found one person testing positive with symptoms for several weeks now. Given that the error rates in the testing systems are around the same as the percentage of positive results from asymptomatic people, is it a possibility that they are in fact false positives? Maybe these people could be tested again within a few days of the original positive test, rather than wait 14 days? If they test negative within days of testing positive then that would cast doubt on the original result. Otherwise, these people sit as ‘confirmed cases’ for 14 days, showing higher Active numbers than is perhaps the case. They are then tested and show as Negative/Recovered but will always be counted as a Confirmed case, which is perhaps not a true reflection of the real situation. Given that our phased reopening is based on numbers, it would be nice to have the correct numbers and be confident in their accuracy.
If the original tests were correct and they are positive but asymptomatic, can Dr Lee tell us how many ‘contacts’ of asymptomatic cases have gone on to test positive? In light of the WHO comments (now slightly backtracked) this data would be useful in establishing the prevalence of asymptomatic spreading.
While we’re on it, could Dr Lee tell us how many children of school age have been tested, so that we have some context around the one child who tested positive?
Agree that Dr Lee should address this. From the studies I have reviewed, even the best PCR tests should expect a false positive error rate of 0.8% to 1.5%. Over thousands of tests, an expectation of zero false positives is not plausible. Therefore, some of the positives in Cayman are necessarily false positives.
We do hundreds of tests each day, and consistently approximate about 1% positives, all of which (with one possible exception) are asymptomatic in testing over the last 7 weeks.
Conclusions:
-it is highly probable that most of these positives are false positives, based on the known error rate on PCR tests
-almost 100% of the positives in the last 7 weeks are asymptomatic versus a clinical expectation that at most around 30 to 50% of those with Covid 19 disease should be asymptomatic. It is not possible to have this distribution of symptomatic (near 0%) vs asymptomatic (near 100%)unless almost all of these positives are false positives.
-we are probably near, or at, the same position that New Zealand announced yesterday, that the jurisdiction is clinically without Covid 19 disease in the community (excluding those in traveller quarantine….who incidentally also happen to be asymptomatic…).
We send our positive results, together with a small number of negatives overseas to be double checked.
Not gonna happen here. The Tribal leaders are much to afraid of catching the virus themselves from you and your children to let you go back to the life you used to have. You will never be free again until they are free from the fear of you.
Yes, what was it Alden said about himself in the third person? About ‘wha’ ga’ happen if he gets knock down wit dis wirus’. You’re probably right, they’re not looking out for us at all.
11:13 could you make that a little more STUPID.
No surprise here, some people behavior still has not changed running around here with no mask and not practicing safe distancing.Yes and still preaching and promoting covid-19 conspiracies and talking mumbo jumbo that it is a only hoax in the face of our terrible reality and inviting disaster because their materialistic utopia has been temporarily halted.Constantly now whining and complaining when they should be greatful and thankful for life itself.
Show me the dead caymanians… I’ll wait.
You want to see dead Caymanians? What kind of freak are you?
The kind that knows there aren’t any from covid.
Lock her down until December Boyz hopefully many will leave this ya place Da beach belong to weee! No matta how many a leeve dis ya still para dice.
Thumbs down for writing like a hoodlum.
Our household has been following the rules and taking precautions in the wider interest of the community and of our own health for months. But now we see people huddled together for photographs at restaurants without any distancing or PPE; we see nannies and cleaners getting picked up and dropped off; pool, dinner, and sleepover parties convening with 6+ households embracing and euro-kissing. What the hell is going on?
I can appreciate that everyone is happy to see each other, but there are emergency conditions in place to accommodate that privilege (which can be withdrawn, much like beach access was).
It’s becoming very frustrating for those personally sacrificing for the common good, especially since the police are disinterested in doing their ticketing duty(CoP hasn’t bothered to account for their activities at press confs), and our judiciary aren’t willing to record the prescribed fines. Either the soft curfew “rules” are in effect or not.
The Governor needs to speak to this and get control of the scaled re-opening situation.
Because there isn’t anyone dying. No one is hospitalized. So why follow fake rules anymore? Try getting a curfew ticket to stick after not charging Jon jons wife.
Go out after midnight tonight and give it a try. Let us know how it goes.
I’ll get a ticket and never pay cause all tickets will be void…
Give it a try, big talker!
Who is actually listening to the WHO anymore? Seriously?
Not listening to anything WHO has to say on this. Trump was right when he cut ties with those Chinese fanboys.
So says the Trump fanboy.
Ugh, this is ridiculous now. No one is in hospital. Wasn’t that the reason for the freak out in the first place? Overcrowded hospitals? No one local has died either. We now have a hospital bed for every person on island to take home as a souvenir for the stupid time everyone overreacted.
When it comes to life and death I’d rather err on the side of life. Steady as she goes and stop whining. The Government promised a gradual release from the restrictions and they are delivering.
No they’re not
(CNN)The spread of Covid-19 by someone who is not showing symptoms appears to be rare, Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s technical lead for coronavirus response and head of the emerging diseases and zoonoses unit, said during a media briefing in Geneva on Monday.
See full article here https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/08/health/coronavirus-asymptomatic-spread-who-bn/index.html
Maybe WHO is trying to appease Trump so he won’t remove their funding. But ser also direct quote “She acknowledged that some studies have indicated asymptomatic or presymptomatic spread in nursing homes and in household settings.
More research and data are needed to “truly answer” the question of whether the coronavirus can spread widely through asymptomatic carriers, Van Kerkhove added.”
Yes, whenever you see/hear a fudge word like “appears,” don’t bet your life on it. A lot is still to be learned about COVID-19. That said, it does in fact “appear” that COVID-19 is less dangerous to healthy people who aren’t over the age of 70. Statistics released over the past weekend showed that the average age of those who died in Italy was 80. Less than 100 people under the age of 40 died from COVID-19 in Italy – out of 234,000 confirmed cases and 95% of the deaths there were to people over 60. In the UK, 88% of COVID-19 deaths were to people 65 and over. In the US, that figure has been 80%. Only 1% of the COVID-19 deaths in the UK were to people under the age of 45. More than 20 percent of the deaths in the UK were to those with dementia/Alzheimer’s.
That’s a lot of “appears” that should dictate policy rather than fear.
If this is true, how are they continuing to find positive cases here?
How dare you bring logic into a perfectly good whine!
Read the various comments on the false positive rate. Not saying they are right either, but would be consistent with the observed facts.
CNN=Fake News
Beau=Trump Fanboy Dullard
“Asymptomatic Transmission Is ‘Very Rare’: WHO (3:23 p.m. NY)
Transmission of the coronavirus by people who aren’t showing symptoms is “very rare,” the World Health Organization said Monday, contradicting speculation by public health officials and researchers that the disease was being spread by people who weren’t showing signs of illness”.
This was today’s statement from the WHO. I seriously hope that Cayman (with greater than 90% asymptomatic spread) is not taking their medical advise from the WHO.
They changed that statement today.
Why don’t we test people for red blood cells next? Everyone will be positive and we can get the wrecking balls out.
Positive has become a negative word. How about we say these people are negative for Covid disease and reopen our damn economy?
To the thumbs-downers: you do realise these asymptomatic “positive” test results represent people WITHOUT COVID-19, the infection that actually does anything to you, right? They have no symptoms whatsoever. You can test any human being at any time and find its immune system effectively fighting off all kinds of things. It’s like everyone in government never used a microscope in school – there are microorganisms, good and bad, on everything and everyone and inside all of us at all times. True cleanliness is a myth; you can only clean away what you can see, and human beings can’t be sterilised like glass jars. These people have the virus in their system, and it is doing nothing to them. Nothing at all. Maybe they didn’t pick up enough copies of the virus to get sick but enough to test positive for its presence; maybe they are the people who never get the flu, ever, and have never been vaccinated against it either, or even the common cold (I’m one of them) who it is thought may have a general immunity to coronaviruses (which cause the common cold and the flu); maybe they’re even false positives. Nevertheless, they get isolated – even though without symptoms, they can’t spread the virus – to protect others – people who are already aware they’re vulnerable and protecting themselves. There is NO JUSTIFICATION for the continued restrictions on almost ANYTHING. Masks and social distancing as social norms for a while (though do not expect me to put off my search for a partner any longer, yes I will kiss her and not through a mask), and the vulnerable can take their chances or isolate. That’s ALL we need at this point. My aunt is not going to let me see my grandmother no matter what “suppression level” we are at. This is ridiculous. Someone with a brain, PLEASE tell me what I’m missing, or where I’m going wrong, because I do not see it. We did not have 1% of the trouble with this virus we were told we would if we didn’t act. I don’t buy the memes about ‘hey we’re almost at the ground, let’s cut off our parachutes!’ making out like those who are able to see the reality are somehow stupid. We are already on the ground! Prove me wrong. Prove any of what I’ve said wrong. I really want you to so I can understand why I can’t get a haircut.
Oh poo poo, Mr. Anonymous 10:34 pm. Go ahead and get your haircut and stop trying to tell the rest of us what we should do! If you can’t find someone to cut it for you, you can cut it yourself.
Same to you. Sit in your house forever, I don’t care. I want my stylist to reopen, and so does he.
I read a story about a guy in the US who never even had a cold. He died of COVID-19. Other than that, I agree that it makes sense to open the island internally now, with strict precautions for those over 65 and limited precautions like facemasks inside public places). We should open the borders to Caymanians, permanent residents, work permit holders and property owners now. We can hold off on stayover tourists until Sept. 1 as planned. As for cruise ship tourists, wait until at least Dec. 1 and I wouldn’t care if it were Dec. 1 2021!
They DO have COVID by definition ( assuming it’s not a false positive). The fact that they are not sick doesn’t mean they don’t have the disease. Your argument assumes that not having a symptom means you don’t have the disease – simply not true.
Yet still no plan.
There never was, there isn’t, and there never will be.
9:41 The PLAN was to keep you ALIVE!
How can there be a plan when you don’t know how when and where the virus will behave, mutate and strike. ?
The only plan you can have is a to tread cautiously , as you move forward with a phased program of steps to return the Island to it’s pre Covid state.
If you want “a plan” that’s it , and I thank the Government for having the courage to stick with what will , in the medium term , prove to be of greatest benefit for the majority.
Do you know what Einstein said was is the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. You seem to fall into that category. You’ve posted that at least 100 times. It’s boring and now verging on insane if you think there will be a plan.
OK 10.47…please tell us what the plan should be as you have the gift of seeing into the future.
Having a plan is management; seeing the future is mysticism – they’re two different disciplines.
And another group of tests well within the expected false positive rate for the PCR tests over the weekend, but the government infographics are listing these as “confirmed cases” in their infographics, so i commend all involved in a brilliant example of government efficiency in that they are able to determine the test results, ship samples across the Caribbean over the weekend to CARPHA (despite the airport being closed) and get confirmation of the result by 5pm Monday!
Of course they could just be lying to us, but why would they do that??
Too many people are unable to detect the sarcasm in this post… in any case, well done
Airport isn’t closed and the tolerance of the test usually fails to catch a positive, not giving a false positive where there is no virus. PCR tests have been shown to be 100% and 96% accurate, meaning they don’t show false positives, but they do show a false negative in 4% of tests, or 4 in every 100 get told they aren’t infected, and no-one who is positive is getting told they have it, and don’t. btw I know nothing is 100 percent accurate.
So no one is hospitalized still? 6 weeks later and we are at level wtf. We need a plan for kids to go back to school.
There never was, and there will never be a plan.
Boss! The Plan. The Plan. Oh wait, that was a plane.
WHO say it is virtually impossible for an asymptomatic person to spread the virus. Jon Jon – please read
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/08/asymptomatic-coronavirus-patients-arent-spreading-new-infections-who-says.html
Read ha ha some of the words have more than three letters
And no pictures
Wha – read !
Let me ride a iguana with me mask on bro.
Then now are more people getting it?
Because they had MINOR symptoms and spread when they thought it was just allergies because our freaking dump is on fire.
I would trust a crack addict with my wallet better than the WHO!
Sure you would.
Funny how US Conservatives now want to listen to WHO when it serves them. There are very few countries inclined to scale-up testing for asymptomatic community COVID-19 like we are, and our testing effort finds the opposite of these WHO statements. Asymptomatic COVID-19 is much more common than symptomatic in our context. We also know that asymptomatic is a wide category that also includes pre-symptomatic. We have been lucky as a population on the symptomatic cases, and we should all wish the 9 year old symptomatic a speedy recovery.
The little cold? Children always have littles colds.
Conservatives do not want to listen to the WHO. They want to show what inconsistent liars WHO “experts” are.