October border opening very limited
(CNS): Government is scaling back on its five-day bio-button isolation proposal to reopen the Cayman Islands’ borders and is now aiming for a tighter, more limited reopening in October than initially planned. With COVID-19 still raging around the world and the high level of active cases in Florida, the phased re-opening will begin with property owners or visitors with access to a home here from countries less impacted than the United States.
Speaking at the first press briefing in more than five weeks, which was cut short due to audio problems, Premier Alden McLaughlin outlined the way government is heading to tackle the increasingly controversial issue of reopening Cayman to visitors. He said that a huge team across government had been considering how to tackle the reopening, given that Cayman is now COVID-19 free while the virus rages all around us.
The premier said that the 1 October was still in play as the start of the phased reopening but the goal now was to allow a limited number of people to come to Cayman, quarantine in more acceptable circumstances than the mandated government quarantine and ensure they stay put.
“We have concluded that there is not one measure (alone) that can effectively do that, so the plan must necessarily involve a layer of requirements and protocols to ensure that we reduce to as close to zero as possible the chances that someone who has the virus getting out and mixing in the community,” the premier said.
He explained that visitors will be tested before they come and need a negative test before they can board a plane. On arrival, they will be given a bio-button but they are now expected to isolate for at least eight days before they are given a test here. These visitors will also be required to wear a geo-fence tag and government will be employing more public health officials to monitor the individuals to ensure that they do not leave the condos or holiday homes where they are in isolation until officials are sure they do not have the virus.
As Cayman has no plans yet to reopen to commercial flights, the first visitors will be coming on British Airways flights, which are going to run fortnightly from London to Grand Cayman from mid-September. It appears that private jets and Cayman Airways may also bring in visitors but the premier said more details would be revealed at future briefings.
The process will be tested on 17 September on the first of these new British Airways flights. Governor Martyn Roper said that following the last air-bridge next week, British Airways will introduce a regular fortnightly service. Passengers will book return tickets directly with British Airways reservations and will require written permission from TravelTime here to board the flight.
The people on the flight will be the first to use the proposed protocols, getting a test before they leave London, getting clearance from TravelTime here and then using the bio-button isolation process for eight days before taking another test. Those with negative tests will be allowed to move about but will remain under observation for several more days.
As a result, only visitors who are planning to stay for long periods will be arriving over the coming months. McLaughlin said he expected that the number would be very limited but they would be more wealthy visitors who will be spending in the local economy.
CNS did have a number of questions for the premier regarding the border opening, the ‘global citizen’ idea, the current status of the economy and much more, but the briefing was cut short and we were unable to ask them. Officials have confirmed, however, that there will be another briefing next week, and in the interim CNS will pursue answers to our questions directly over the coming days.
See the truncated briefing on CIGTV below:
Category: Local News, Transport
I guess we’d better get back to making silver thatch rope. I hope there is still a market for it. At this point we’ve got nothin else to sell.
We’ve got nothin else to sell ya say? This makes too much sense for Cayman, but hear me out. We could grow medical cannabis, give some budding Caymanian scientists a job to extract the oils, then export it. Sell it locally for recreational use to create retail jobs and tax sales that would generate revenue for gov. Like TBL’s, offer paid licenses to grow more than personal use.
Or continue to import it for top dollar and make the black market fulfill the needs of the thousands of recreational users.
US and UK are bottom of the pile in rankings of governments’ handling of coronavirus pandemic
this was cnn headline news today.
So tell me why are we catering to the UK?????
CIG has finally realized that all their plans fail. Now there will be no plan so no failing again. A step in the right direction.
We all get it. Caymanians hate expats and would like them all to leave, CIG works for Caymanians only. Expats have no representation here and no reason to stay unless its for themselves. Remember in the coming days that Caymanians don’t deserve or want help from the rest of the world.
Wrong. Caymanians hate expats and would like them to depart, but leave all their belongings as booty for Caymanians.
It is our pirate DNA…
…don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Sorry Bobo – you stuck with me ‘cause I Caymanian ya know. Just don’t have the teefin’ dna.
The government has taken more lives then Covid ever would.
Yes, millions have died. If only Donald Trump had been our leader, he would have saved them all. MACA!
I’d like to come check up on my beach house I haven’t seen since February, but don’t look for me until you have regular air service. I can do without you until you get past the insanity (the more than normal kind.)
And we can do without your kind like forever
No you can’t.
Oh puhleezzzeee!! You paid stamp duty ONE TIME and there’s no further tax from you just hoarding land to have a pretty house on a beach you go to once a year!
Good for you? 🍪?
Bio Buttons is a convenient solution for government to excuse their rich buddies to fly in when ever they please on their private jets under the guise of being tracked.
There is no national plan in place to keep banks from foreclosing on homes or lower mortgage payments while the borders stay closed. Businesses continue to close and the unemployed due to covid are still unemployed.
No national plan to help with medical insurance for unemployed workers.
Real solutions are needed for issues that are impacting peoples lives now.
CNS: Can you update on how many registered Caymanians at WORC have been placed in jobs since COVID?
Just wait until the vaccine. It’ll be available in a few months. Not worth the risk and extra expense.
Please read this encouraging news.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/brazil-coronavirus-manaus-herd-immunity/2020/08/23/0eccda40-d80e-11ea-930e-d88518c57dcc_story.html
The government can easily bail the economy out, they don’t even need the bank line of credit. Change the pension laws. Have government issue 10/20/50 year bonds that only the Pensions can (and must) purchase. Government pays the pensions back what they know they need each year, with a % rate above the inflation/COS% increases
win win win win win win win
What could possibly go wrong with this plan…
That would basically be a tax.
and there’s no tax in Cayman?! LOL.
massive debt in not the solution unless you think cig will susidse and save private entities.(which will never happen)
cig will be forced into massive debt to pay for their own huge bloated wasteful, underperforming, civil service ….that they refuse to cut.
All you need to know about Bio-Button and how and what was “approved” by FDA.
Trade/Device Name: BioSticker System
Regulation Name: Radiofrequency Physiological Signal Transmitter and Receiver
Regulatory Class: Class II
Product Code: DRG
Dated: June 16, 2019
Received: June 18, 2019
How does FDA classify medical devices?
☑️ all medical devices into one of three regulatory classes based on the level of control necessary to ensure safety and effectiveness of the device. Classification is RISK BASED, that is, the risk the device poses to the patient and/or the user is a major factor in determining the class to which it is assigned.
☑️ Class I devices are subject only to general controls.
Class II devices are those for which general controls alone are insufficient to provide a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness.
Class III devices generally are those for which insufficient information exists to determine that general or special controls are sufficient to provide a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness.
What is a premarket notification (510(k)) submission?
☑️ ..is submitted to FDA before a manufacturer proposes to market a medical device. If FDA agrees the new device is substantially equivalent to a legally marketed device for which premarket approval is not required, the manufacturer may market it immediately.
☑️ FDA does not require clinical data in most 510(k)s.
What is a premarket approval (PMA) application?
☑️ …is the most stringent type of device marketing
application for medical devices. FDA approves a PMA if it determines that the application contains sufficient valid scientific evidence to provide reasonable assurance that the device is safe and effective for its intended use(s)
Does FDA require IRB review and approval of off-label use of a legally marketed device?
☑️ NO, when a physician uses a legally marketed device outside its labeling to treat a patient and no
research is being done, IRB review is not required.
YES, when the off-label use of a legally marketed device is part of a research study collecting safety and effectiveness data involving human subjects, IRB review and approval is required (21 CFR 812.2(a)).
For additional information on the off-label use of devices, see the FDA Information Sheet guidance, “ ‘Off-label’ and Investigational Use of Marketed Drugs, Biologics and Medical Devices.”
December 18, 2019
☑️….We [FDA] have reviewed your[BioIntelliSense Inc.] Section 510(k) premarket notification of intent to market the device…. and have determined the device is substantially equivalent …. to legally marketed predicate devices marketed in interstate commerce prior to May 28, 1976,… or to devices that have been reclassified in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (Act) that do not require approval of a premarket approval application (PMA)
☑️ You may, therefore, market the device, subject to the general controls provisions of the Act.
☑️ If your device is classified … into either class II (Special Controls) or class III (PMA), it may be subject to additional controls.
☑️ The BioSticker System is a remote monitoring system INTENDED for use by healthcare professionals for continuous collection of physiological data in home and healthcare settings while the patient is AT REST. This can include heart rate, respiratory rate, and skin temperature. Data are transmitted via wireless connection from the BioSticker for storage and
analysis.
☑️ The device is INTENDED for use on general care patients who are 21 years of age or older as a general patient monitor, to provide physiological information. The data from the BioSticker System are intended for use by healthcare professionals as an aid to diagnosis and treatment.
☑️ The device is NOT INTENDED to measure physiological parameters while the patient undergoes significant motion or is active. The device is NOT INTENDED for use on critical care patients.
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cdrh_docs/pdf19/K191614.pdf
If everyone that got a bio-button did their in-home work out routine at staggered times – you could have the Cayman Health inspectors running around like ants on a hot stove.
Might be fun to test the response time. Once they get wise to your work out schedule – let them drive up to your residence while they wait to bust you for exercising….but wait them out….then when they finally get tired and drive away….count to 60….then start doing jumping jacks like your life depended on it.
A gotcha moment when you throw open the door when they come racing up the sidewalk and you say “Ahaa! Fooled You!”
Got to have some fun while in quarantine.
FDA lost any credibility it had earlier this week.
It is now just another propaganda department of tRump
So I can see law suits on the horizon.
How does this fit with the Data Protection Law?
@3:56 pm I asked that same question and exactly how does Travel Time fit with data protection law as well.
We have been quarantined while “assumed” contagious whether tested positive but asymptomatic or not tested and required to wear masks 4 or 5 months now all justified by the theory that anyone could have the virus without knowing or feeling sick.
So please explain how bio buttons that cannot measure the same asymptomatic contagion are not completely contadictory to the principles govt has been pushing all this time?
It sounds silly but I almost think we shoukd have let people in WHILE we still had restrictions and mandatory masks. We’re literally opening our borders with all our defenses down….right around flu season.
You are absolutely correct. Closing borders was never a sustainable strategy. It still isn’t. Closing it would have only proved a good strategy if a miracle happened. Waiting for miracles is unsustainable.
“The premier said that the 1 October was still in play as the start of the phased reopening but the goal now was to allow a limited number of people to come to Cayman, quarantine in more acceptable circumstances than the mandated government quarantine and ensure they stay put.”
What about returning residents from 1 Oct – does this apply to us as well? it better do as I’ll be trying to get back from the UK and I have no desire to spend 14 days in the Hotel California (Holiday Inn) at the Government’s pleasure.
Sort it out Alden.
If you are not willing to quarantine to keep us all safe, then you should probably stay where you are.
Cold and Tax
Or
Warm and Caymankind.
Your choice.
Yea, sure sounds like Caymankind.
More like Cayman FU I am alright jack. We are talking about fellow Caymanians and established residents for heavens sakes – members of our community stranded overseas, some for no fault of their own.
Don’t worry, we aren’t coming. We aren’t masochists.
I’m the OP and Caymanian.
Alden did not mention residents – which I am using to mean Caymanians and non-Caymanians residents.
Others have told me ‘of course it will include you” but given he didn’t say that it included this group how do I currently know?! So the usual half-assed information from the Government making it very difficult to plan.
Before getting in line for the vaccine, conduct a survey of the public to see if they will get vaccinated.
Otherwise might end up buying more than needed.
yep…plus name and shame those who refuse a vaccine.
I’ll get one after it’s proven until then, you go inject poison into your body.
A high net worth individual (HNWI) isn’t going to be beating down the door to get to CI.
Right now it is difficult enough with all the scheduling, and reservations, and security to get to CI. Now, we have to have a Corona test done after buying tickets, have the results validated by TravelTime, get permission from TravelTime, hope that weather or some other delay doesn’t happen and make that test stale – sounds ripe for problems. Don’t forget that the airlines will most likely be screening people for temperature as well. This many hurdles just to get to CI would force travelers to buy expensive refundable tickets as travel insurance would not possibly cover a missed flight in these conditions. Add an 8 day quarantine with that ridiculous bio-button and all the HNWI’s I know will pass. You might get a few family members but not much else. Obviously, no one from the US is coming via London.
Condos that have reservations right now will be sending refunds back to travelers because there is no sensible border opening scheduled. This money will dry up and the overhead expenses will force drastic actions all along the tourist supported properties. Other destinations will be pandering to CI’s tourists and some will find a new piece of heaven. I fear many will not be coming back.
Banks now running a line of credit for the CIG to try to ride this out on the hope that a vaccine will be available and effective. This will have to be paid back but with the immolation of all tourist dollars for the next 12 to 24 months – how?
This is going to be a hard lesson in economics. God help us.
I assume they will not be able to come from other countries via the US.
are there any plans to allow further access to pension money if this economic situation continues?
Best try so stop spending on unnecessary things and start saving.
how to do you save when your job or business is gone?
NAU
The pension providers probably took 75% of your pension to cover their cost of giving you 25% of it.
They think people can live on 1,000 a month when they are receiving their pension on top of their ridiculously high and unearned salaries!
The government continues to hide from the people. Have a open table and take questions from the public. What is the government so afraid of?
they ahve been afraid of questions from day one…hence why they stopped doing government press briefings…
People go where they are treated best. Be it the tourists to the wealthy. Cayman is not the place. After 6 months the government has not come up with a plan. It seems they placed their chips on getting a vaccine which was never a high probability in that time frame. It really is a shame to have such poor leadership.
Tourism here is sadly finished . Alden and Moses don’t have a workable plan for the short to medium term that will encourage faith in Cayman , as a destination to return to.
Between now & next spring, most would-be travelers have decided on their upcoming winter, summer & mid term vacation plans to destinations that don’t have restrictions, quarantining and the impossibility to book a flight without Draconian measures. Next up here will be the crash of real estate values. You will be able to buy a 7 Mile Beach condo for sub $250k (U.S.)
” You will be able to buy a 7 Mile Beach condo for sub $250k (U.S.)”
As a young Caymanian in their 20s, please make this happen.
Yeah right, there will be a long queue in front of you.
Well, don’t come back. Keep going else where ✌🏼
9.01 Ususal nonsense reply from a likely WB voter. You’d be lost without our expat dollars and we all know it!
more cig waffle…the plan as usual is no-plan. the numbers of people who will take advantage of this will be miniscule.
face facts….the cayman bubble and the slow death of its economy wiil continue until an effective vaccine is available and in operation….possibly by mid 2021.
even then recovery will be painfully slow over a number of years.
anyone who thinks otherwise has their heads in the sand.
real question is…how can the cayman economy survive??…and do we have the economic expertise to come up with workable solutions…(no we don’t).
Exactly. The only people that will come here have their own secondary/vacation residences. The numbers allowed in per govt wont really help the economy enough to justify importing Covid.
It will just take a few infected travellers while we are living in false sense of security aka a bubble, no masks on, barely any restrictions, to possibly infect dozens/hundreds and be forced back into lockdown like Jamaica.
I am in Jamaica. Suddenly we have about 100 cases a day, deaths, and people like Usain Bolt and the Commr of police testing positive for the virus. We let in thousands of people from the USA and UK but did not test the ones from the UK for some reason.
My friend came in on a full flight from London last week, no social distancing on flight, no testing at the airport, just temp checks, although she is in now in mandatory 2 week quarantine.
I truly believe letting in UK people/tourists without testing has led to community transmission. We are now in a very nasty petri dish.
We have been very careful since March, masks, sanitizing, everything. Yes there are hundreds of people who are not careful too but now in late August, all these cases. It came with the open borders.
It’s always been suspicious why our government doesn’t publish where the positives fly in from? What are they hiding? It’s not privacy.
The 2 people that are in isolation came in on the UK last flight. Returning work permit holders. Company name I can’t say. The 2 had no issues posting their dilemma on Facebook. It’s no fault of theirs and the view is, others will know if they have been in contact with them, to get tested/isolate. I’m not sure why Cayman is cagey. In the UK you know every single borough that cases are in. Why? So you can take precautions. You go to a restaurant and you give your name and number. Why? In case of a flare up or someone reported symptoms you can be contacted traced. Usain got it and post to warn others of his dilemma. Cayman wake up!
Usain caught Covid from a birthday party that I am sure tourists were not at. This is not the time to be removing masks and being in large crowds, but it is easy to blame the tourist.
Very easy to blame the tourist BUT it has not been the tourists in the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos that started the new spread it was the residence that had parties and no masks that cause it…..And the quick trip to FL for 2 days and did not tests and isolate.
Thankyou Cayman News for this valuable information. We can now book our 2020 fall and winter plans elsewhere and see how things go for 2021.
We have been long-term property owners in Cayman and visited regularly, even before owning property, going back nearly 30 years.
We respect the needs of the people of Cayman, we just need to know the plan that we can work with. Be well all. Hope to see you all next year.
They’re still pushing bio buttons despite the fact it is not intended for active and healthy people. For it to work (at least they say it will work) one wearing it must be over 21 and immobile.
Does that mean the deal is sealed and can’t be unsealed?
I guess in the US one can complain to FDA. Since the company selling the device to CIG is a US registered company, a complaint still can be filed with FDA.
the bio-button appears to be sponsored or backed by the Dart Corporation who are encouraging employees to wear the device…the same corporation brought us styrofoam.
How can you complain to the FDA about the company if CIG decides to buy and use the device for a completely different purpose than what it is intended for? I suspect this has a lot more to do with ego fencing ( and thereby allowing private jet class to quarantine at home) than it does with monitoring symptoms, but either way there seems to be no suggestion that it’s not a legitimate product albeit hone designed for some completely different application
I agree.
But if they got FDA approval, actually the letter says they don’t need an approval for premarketing, since it belongs to a category of devices that don’t need to be tested since it is in the same category as a different device that was already approved.
But the FDA letter does say:
Not intended for active people.
Intended for over 21 who are not moving much; for monitoring in healthcare or home settings by a PHYSICIAN. A certified and licensed physician.
So basically it is for bedridden, home bound sick, recovering or elderly people.
The fact they’re still planning to use this device “off label” indicates that it was already purchased.
Then there’s geo tracking…🧐😳
They want people to become walking antennas believing it would cause no harm to their health. And you should just believe it is safe.
Feel bad for Dart’ employees if they indeed forced to wear the devices.
The bio-button has the potential to be a very real and tragic scandal and CNS/other media should be taking a very long hard look at what is going on and should be asking CIG to publish its reasoning and decision making, including any and all correspondence with 3rd parties.
Any attempt to use bio-buttons to justify a quarantine period shorter than 14 days is entirely wrong. There is no way, nada, zilch, zero, that it can be used in that way. It was not designed for that, has not been tested for that, is not licensed for that. CIG is playing fast and loose with people’s lives because they are being pressured by certain interests.
Chill out man……It’s just one tool of many they are using.
1) Pre test
2) Bio Button
3) Geo Fencing to a location via tracking
4) 8 day home isolation via geo fence monitoring
5) Test again on day 8
This is a good compromise, especially since day 8 after possible exposure is the most accurate time to test.
You can always stay home in your ” Bubble ” for the next few years while you wait for a vaccine BUT clean the frozen chicken packets as they have found the virus on them in other countries!
11.32 – good response – I hear some people have not gone outside their homes since March (and not just the civil service!) – really? No wonder we are struggling to soft open the airport and allow our citizens to travel for necessary reasons.
Your 2,3 and 4 are all bio button – supposedly. Which is the real point – it’s not to detect whether you have the virus, it’s about you not going outside your home without the stigma of an electronic tag. Of course it does nothing to stop you then giving the virus to your family, who are not tagged ( whoops, buttoned) or in the glitterati private jet class your household staff, all of whom will be leaving your quarantined presence and circulating in the general community.
They mentioned tracking brackets as well BUT who will see the button anyway its under your shirt as for giving it to family member or staff it has not been mentioned IF you will be allowed to isolate with family that will be allowed out which would be highly unlikely given other UK territories require all house hold member to stay home in isolation.
We’re screwed. Certainty is key in why people spend money. From why we choose where to eat, to why we travel to certain places, a consistent message good or bad makes us choose to do these things. We are not consistent in our message and living in bizarro world to think that destroying the economy like we have done will turn around any time soon. Buckle up civil servants because the pay cuts are coming after the election.
Well we are in a “bizarro world” so there will not be certainty for anything!
BUT agree that the civil servants should and will see a pay cut.
7.11 And it’ll be homeward bound for me. Didn’t come here to take a wage cut. I can get that at home! You can bet your boots that prices won’t decerease in line with that. Cue ‘Good riddance’ ‘Don’t let the door hit you on the way out’ ‘You’re not welcome here you piece of driftwood’…etc..etc…ad nauseum.
Me too. I spend every cent of my wage here on Cayman and refuse to take a pay cut to support a country that has shown nothing but contempt to me and many of my expat colleagues.
I’m sick and tired of the bigotry and racism projected at us for doing a job that Caymanians cannot or will not do.
I too will wait for the said ‘door hitting’ comments, but I’ll have the last laugh and my fat CS pension to spend somewhere that appreciates ‘all’ people without discrimination.
Yet you will always wish to come back… They all do…
I’m so tired of the civil service bashing on cns (I know it’s nothing new but lately it seems worse than ever). I work in CIG and over the past few months myself and many colleagues have been putting in 10-12 hour days, 6 days a week to keep this country going as much as possible. Why should we take a pay cut?
Doing what exactly? Not being sarcastic, genuinely interested in what part of the C is putting in that level of effort, because all we see are the obvious public facing examples like the Post Office and MLAs.
10:09. Thats sinply not true , working from home HA. Won’t even answer the phone thats too hard work for civil service to do
I guess you don’t work at the Post Office then?
If a visitor (that is actually visiting someone) has a bio button, does the entire household have one too? Is the entire household quarantined? If my retired (not so wealthy) parents come for an extended visit, does that mean my 3 children cannot attend school until after the quarantine period? Does the whole household get tested at the end of the quarantine period? I have so many questions about the practicalities of this “solution” to reopening the borders…
I’m in the same position. Would love to know the answer
Well what do you think?
If your parents do come with Covid, yet your family is out and about???
I would suggest that the answer is yes, unless you want to be ‘that’ family that re-introduces Covid to Cayman! When my kids came back from Uni the whole house quarantined for 14 days, it’s not hard to do. You really don’t need Government to tell you what is the right thing to do, I guess they could, but would you want to do anything different than be ultra cautious?
It’s not hard to do. Did your whole family quarantine in the whole house, or a government facility?
Not intended for people under 21.
Of course you all have to isolate!!!
Not sure about the testing but it makes sense to test everybody in the household.
CNS can you ask if locals can leave to go visit family in the US especially spouses who are working there?
Yes, people are all ready doing this
Well I’ve tried with no luck. I applied to the TravelTime and even asked them and they said they would get back to me. So not sure how others are doing this without private jets. Wish I knew..
Can we get more than two flights to Miami in September?
They originally announced more when they said the border wouldn’t reopen on September 1st.
Also please get the mail going again.
People going to Miami on Sept 1st now can’t get back until at least Sept. 22nd. Parents taking their kids back to school don’t need to stay up there 3 weeks Who can afford to take that much time off work?
Parents taking their kids back to school don’t need to stay up there 3 weeks.
If you find it necessary to “take” your kids to school, I can assure you that they are not ready to be on their own just yet.
You can get to Miami. Flights are not full. Just can’t get back – or rather, have to gamble that a) you can get permission from travel time to book the next flight back – so you are there for at least 14 days – b) you can find somewhere that will give you a ocrvtest and results within 3 days ( and you are not positive after spending 14 days there) c) travel time doesn’t change its mind or discover that they hadn’t kept track of the numbers and quarantine is now full because a BA flight has arrived. Spin the dice.
There a literally two flights for the entire month. Which is maybe fine but very different from what was announced originally.
CIG makes it impossible to plan and for many people the gap between the 1st and 22nd is not feasible, especially given nothing announced for Oct with any certainty.
We had the “magic” air bridge and now two-week scheduled flight to London, why can’t Cayman Airways fly to Miami once a week.
I’m sure there would be a decent level of passenger demand and certainly cargo on the way back.
The only problem is lack of quarantine facilities. Why are there not more?????
If travellers on British Air on Sept. 17 are going to be allowed to isolate at home, why can’t the same be done for Caymanians returing from the US? A bit of a double standard there….
Not saying it’s right but Dr Lee pointed out the incidence of the virus in the UK is a fraction of what it is in Miami Dade. But don’t disagree – think as long as any country has a material problem with virus anyone coming here from there should quarantine. Or alternatively, once we get to the same or worse infection levels as them then we don’t need to bother !
There will be no cargo on way back because they already fly a cargo light twice a week.
Mail is going to UK, USA according to Post Office but no Canada
My post office in US says mail is not going to GC until the border is open and the date they have is Oct 1.
Mail has not gone to the UK since the last flight end-July.
They have not wanted to sent mail addressed to Europe thru the US because apparently the US mail system was down. So they’ve been waiting for BA.
Clearly you did not listen to the press briefing- they discussed the mail situation.
Clearly you don’t have a clue. Try getting mail sent to you.
No, they made excuses for their continued failures.
Yeah and the discussion consisted of “it’s under negotiation “ not that “it’s solved”. Mind you even when it gets here they apparently don’t have enough staff on deck to sort it because of all their “high risk” staff sheltering at home.
Yeah, the mail works fine…
https://caymannewsservice.com/2020/08/cayman-airways-in-talks-to-bring-in-us-mail/
Like most things we are stumbling around in the dark
I personally know of 3 people of independent means who have left the island on evacuation flights. There is little demand from the ultra wealthy. They are already at their vacation homes in Aspen, the hamptons, the south of Spain, and France. They have been for months. This narrative continues to get parodied by business folks in Cayman. Definitely group think.
Get rid of the thought that the wealthy are looking at Cayman. They are not. The truly rich want villas with gardeners, cooks, housekeepers, yachts, etc. Aim for middle class, families, single professionals. Offer deals and specials to get the people down there. Get rid of the quarantine and bio button and make it truly a Cayman kind holiday with minimal Covid testing and contact testing. Nightly entertainment instead of just bars, sporting events families can enjoy, water/boating events at night. Set a firm date of when you are opening and not a “soft date” that keeps changing with the breeze.
Absolutely not! If we do what you’re suggesting we’ll ruin the relative “Covid-free” status that we’ve worked so hard to achieve and we’ll end up straight back in lockdown and then our economy will be totally crushed! Very slow, gradual and as cautious as possible reopening is definitely the way to go. The more cautious the better. We have too much to lose!
The government imposed locked down. There is no appetite for another one amongst the public. They cannot arrest everyone.
No one wants another lockdown, agreed. However, Government will do whatever they need/want to in order to ensure public safety.
Safety? From an illness I have a 99.98% of surviving.
I don’t think parodied means what you think it means but it does make your post amusing.
By Mid October should certainly be open to Canadians who will spend more than a month here and are here for the winter.
There are a lot of places that people can travel with minimal restrictions. Cayman you are destroying your economy and loyal travel base.
STOP changing your plans. It is ridiculous.
A pre-test before boarding the plane. A test when you land. Quarantine until you get results which will be within 3-5 hours. A test on day 5. An email with your results. A test on day 8. That is how you deal with tourists. Contact tracing when you go into restaurants and on tours. No quarantine. No Bio-Button. People want to visit your island. You want people to come. Open the borders and let people come.
Screw you. Our boarders are closed to protect the people here. Typical mentality of those who believe the world must bend to them.
Screw you some of us want options and to live you can stay home if you like I want to work and want people back asap!
9.38pm You still can’t spell “borders”, please study a dictionary.
You are not screwing me. My family can fly to many other places that have warm weather and a beach that have their restrictions thought out, are open now and have welcome back incentives.
That is definitely NOT the way to go. If we do what you’re suggesting we’ll ruin the relative “Covid-free” status that we’ve worked so hard to achieve and we’ll end up straight back in lockdown and then our economy will be totally crushed! We are doing the right thing being cautious and putting safety first. If tourists don’t like it, they can go somewhere else. Our people come first!
Other places are doing exactly what I said and are doing better economically and so far only minimal cases have been missed and have not infected the entire country.
Another places do what you say and they do well both in deaths by covid and economically.
Your choice, you want your neighbour (or yourself) to die from covi or try find a solution where you don’t get rich but at least keeps everybody alive?
But, if you know a single case where it works and there are no side effects, please name it so we can learn from it.
Well I did not die of it here and did not even know I had it and did not infect my housed as a asymptomatic person…….SO I have more insight than you and say OPEN UP NOW!
Look around the Caribbean the Tourists are not the problem it the locals that spread it!
Remind me again how many Caymanians have died from COVID? Ah, none.
Remind me again, out of a country of 70,000 people have had the disease? Oh, 203!
Perhaps the panic I hear is somewhat misplaced.
How many Caymanians are hungry? Never mind, you wouldn’t care.
Oh, wealthy vistors is it? Funny ads popping up on ecaytrade from financial services work permit holders. Funny how we aren’t going to Canada with their labour markets demanding 100 k salaries. No, we want “UK” and its extension back door cheaper and cheaper labour for the 4 corners. Was looking forward to some geniue wage inflation., but let’s see doubt BA can continue for much longer.
North Americans share of SMB condos 85%
UK share of SMB condos 5%
North American clients to Cayman Financial services 65%
UK 5%?
North American share of global GDP %33
UK 10% maybe
UK share of CI employment (greater or equal) to all North America
UK political influence 90 percent.
We can work it out. UK not coming with bags of cash to spend, they are coming to work.
UK GDP is actually less than 2.5% of global total.
The Queen rules over a faded Empire that was struggling to maintain relevance even before Brexit and Covid-19.
But hey, they are the boss so don’t complicate your life.
But the UK is the only direct air bridge from Europe and a 500 million population.
Now get off your hang up on North America, there’s a big world out there and the US market isn’t working so well at the moment is it. This is the opportunity to widen Cayman’s appeal instead of restricting it to one or two countries.
Question what happens when people visit our shores and their home becomes the next hot spot for the virus. How can we returned them home?
By plane. People like freedom of choice.
They stay, the same way Cayman has left thousands of its own residence in other countries stuck and overstaying their immigration time…..you have to suck it up!
Ladies and gentlemen, this plan is even more unworkable than the previous plans. As I see it, an American property owner has to fly to London in order to fly to Cayman. Isn’t there a 14 day quarantine in the UK? Regardless, an 8 day quarantine for a temporary stay isn’t going to cut it. Just say you don’t want to reopen and get it over with.
BTW- just because Florida has high Covid numbers please realize not everyone in the US flies thru Florida or has Covid or lives in an area that has high Covid numbers.
There are many airports to connect thru that is not Florida.
And which of those airports currently has any commercial flights to Cayman? The only non private jet option is Cayman Airways from Miami.
Not anymore.
Bio-buttons do not address the fact that 40% or more transmission is via asymptomatic individuals. That’s right – asymptomatic means not displaying any symptoms that the bio-button can monitor or report. This, in combination with the fact that the WHO correctly recommends 14 day quarantine, based on all available data regarding incubation and contagion periods, means that the 8 day quarantine is irresponsible, recklessly so, and will inevitably lead to transmission in the wider Cayman community and a second lockdown.
You are incorrect…the BioButton picks up infectious symptoms when the individual is “asymptomatic”-there is no such thing as asymptomatic,people just don’t consciously recognize their symptoms, but the body does when it goes into infection fighting mode-and the BioButton will pick that up.
LOL hah hah hah hah!!!!! Do you even know what bio button is? Not what they say it is, but what it REALLY is and how and when it should work in theory??
Appears They purchased the buttons but will be scratching their butts soon when they learn they purchased a “cat in bag”.
P.S. Ever wondered why you have to be still when a nurse measures your blood pressure?
Lie. It’s an expensive thermometer.
It’s a politically acceptable ankle tag
You’re absolutely spot on! Whoever came up with the ridiculous bio button idea is either getting a cut of the deal or hasn’t got a clue about the science behind Covid incubation and asymptomatic contagion. Most likely both.
You’re absolutely spot on on all counts!
It is totally unacceptable that a Press Conference of the Hon. Premier and The Governor has to be cut short because of audio or other technical issues.
The staff responsible must be held to account. In this day and age such an incident is unheard of. Even at the best of time when watching CIGTV the volume is pathetic. What do these people do with their time? They can’t even manage to get the Meeting started at the stated time. Can you imagine what it would be like if they had to do this every day?
Do the damn job you’re being paid your fat salary to do!
6:24 HIGHHHH PITCHED SCREAMING!!!!!!!!! SCREEEEEEEE
It was a Zoom issue, relax.
Wasn’t a Zoom issue that delayed the start to the point where we had to endure multiple repeats of the public service message reminding us of the importance of wearing masks. And I don’t know about your business, but everyone I have engaged with by Zoom has a phone in alternative.
Sensible starting option. For all those screeching that it’s not good enough it’s better than nothing! It’s still a few more visitors to spend money on the island! I think this is a safe start. We have come so far. Let’s not rush into it like a bull at a gate!
Good to see the grownups back in charge.
There are so many places people can already travel to with no restrictions.
Cayman government is actively destroying the islands economy.
All because of a virus that is basically the flu. Death rate about 0.2% (likely less), but all of the morons in Cayman (civil servants) want to remain at home forever and locked away.
I suppose its easy to get paid to not do anything from home as a government “worker”.
Watch all the tourist who used to come to cayman start to go to other destinations, and never come back.
Sad to see all the Caymanians and residents get destroyed economically because of a virus that killed literally no one in Cayman despite hundreds of infections.
Also, all the people advocating lockdowns, maybe if you stopped eating burger king 3 times a day then you wouldnt need to be worried about catching a cold.
Actually keeping the borders closed gets allot of civil servants back to work – thank you very much. Myself included. I had to work remotely when the lockdown was in place but now that we are COVID free im back in the office and working away. Not that I wasn’t working in lockdown but there were certain limitations with the branch of civil service that I fit in. At the end of the day the upper government calls the shots. Don’t paint us all with the same brush or compare this to the flu which it very much isn’t.
If calling people morons makes you feel superior, feel free to relocate. With that NASTY attitude, you are a minus to our tourism product whether you own a taxi or an AirB&B. 😤
The fact that every local life is important says something about leadership here.
That you are ok with even one loss of live from an avoidable illness says a lot about you.
The local economy will survive. We know that money does not disappear, it only changes industries. So while you complain and judge, Cayman will continue to thrive and prosper.
Very naive to think that with no evidence.
Certainly life must be protected to our best reasonable efforts, but unfortunately we can completely control nature. We have to accept some degree of morbidity and mortality. We accept death by cancer, heart disease, other infections, and a myriad of other causes. To take a position that there should never be any adverse effect by covid, although would be ideal, is arrogant and unrealistic. Cayman needs to come to grips with this realization otherwise there will be reactive lockdown after lockdown after every single case is found.
Cayman has limited health resources so, yes, careful control of covid is required, but lets be realistic. Cayman’s gdp was heavily weighted on tourism, those that think they can do without that revenue are mistaken. The financial industry is not going to be able to make up for the tourism loss.
I, like many Caymanians have enjoyed the “break” we have had from the explosive tourism we have experienced over the last several years. Realistically, however, we do need to return to tourism. We certainly do not need to start back at the 5-8 cruise ships a day, and thousands of air travellers a day. Reduced planes, diligent testing, and NO BIOBUTTONS will be adequate.
Convenient no questions for the press conference as the government cannit produce a single credible piece of evidence for the efficacy of the biobutton in containing covid. Wasted dollars that could go to the many in need on this island.
Well said
Good luck with finding guinea pigs. Oink, oink 🐷