CMO reveals quarantine mix-up

| 11/09/2020 | 55 Comments
CMO Dr John Lee

(CNS): After three positive tests this week, Chief Medical Officer Dr John Lee wrapped up the week’s testing results on Friday with 105 samples, which were all negative for COVID-19. Dr Lee also revealed that a miscommunication had led to one person leaving quarantine briefly this week after their 14 days, despite testing positive for the virus. The CMO explained that the person was recalled to continue isolation but had recorded a very low viral level “of doubtful clinical significance”.

Dr Lee said there is no PAHO requirement to test those who have isolated for two weeks but Cayman does so because of the status it currently enjoys.

The woman is understood to be one of three people this week who were in government isolation after returning to Cayman from overseas and who tested positive when a PCR test was administered after the mandated 14 day period.

“The standards we have in Cayman for releasing our returning travellers are far more stringent than most other countries in the world, and this affords us a great deal of comfort,” Dr Lee told CNS in an email, as he allayed any fears about the woman’s brief release from quarantine.

“There is no longer any recommendation from PAHO to perform a PCR test after a traveller has undergone a 14 day quarantine period. As we understand, this is partially driven by a capacity issue which Cayman does not currently have, so we have continued to employ this safety net,” he added.

Dr Lee explained that on this occasion, although the miscommunication led to the individual being recalled, the low viral load means that the woman did not pose a real threat.

“The PCR test in question had revealed a very low level of viral material, and as we now know, these very low levels are of doubtful clinical significance but we treat them with caution because of the status Cayman currently enjoys,” the CMO said referring to the elimination of the virus within the community.

Meanwhile the total number of people now in isolation, either at a government facility or in their homes as required by the Medical Officer of Health, is 370.


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Category: Health, Medical Health

Comments (55)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Fake Pandemic, numbers backed up by science.
    This COVID does not meet the criteria for Pandemic.
    We were screwed.
    I lost a fortune.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Hope we don’t have any mix ups with the covid positive tourists coming here soon.

    4 months of lockdown here we come!

  3. Anonymous says:

    Article below from Dr John Lee in England. Alas, he’s not the same Dr John Lee we have. Read this article, over 1,600 die in UK daily all year long. Less than 10 daily from Covid recently, and that’s AFTER the massive protests and parties. Something is very strange going on regarding Covid19 and its real risk to us as a population. A perceived risk, yes. A real risk that outweighs all others and justifies how we’ve tried to cope with it? The evidence suggests not. What is going on?

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8728845/Dr-JOHN-LEE-argues-coronavirus-lockdown-cause-long-term-harm-illness-itself.html

  4. Anonymous says:

    WHY CAYMAN HUMAN RIGHT COMMISSION IS SILENT?

    United Nations
    Human Rights
    Office of the high commissioner.

    “COVID-19 not an excuse for unlawful deprivation of liberty – UN expert group on arbitrary detention.”

    8 May 2020
    Working Group on Arbitrary Detention

    Deliberation No. 11 on prevention of arbitrary deprivation of liberty in the context of public health emergencies.
    https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Detention/DeliberationNo11.pdf

    • …All such measures must be publicly declared, be
    strictly proportionate to the threat to the public caused by the emergency, be the least intrusive
    means to protect public health and be imposed only for the time required to combat the emergency.
    ❇️ Cayman: measures are disproportional and there is no
    emergency

    •.. any derogation from a person’s right to liberty must strictly comply with the LIMITS imposed upon a State party’s power to derogate from that right by international law.

    • .. if the person concerned is not at liberty to leave a premise, that person is to be regarded as deprived of his or her liberty..

    • The Working Group wishes to clarify that mandatory quarantine in a given premise, including in a person’s own residence that the quarantined person may not leave for any reason, is a measure of de facto deprivation of liberty

    🛑 THE MOST IMPORTANT:
    Necessity and proportionality of the deprivation of liberty

    Any deprivation of liberty, even if it is authorized by
    law, may still be considered arbitrary if it…is an overly broad statute authorizing automatic and indefinite deprivation of liberty without any standards or review…

    ….even the lawful deprivation of liberty may still be arbitrary if such detention is NOT strictly NECESSARY or a PROPORTIONAL measure in pursuance of a legitimate
    aim…..
    In particular, States must be mindful that detention that INITIALLY satisfied the requirements of necessity and proportionality may NO LONGER BE JUSTIFIED insofar as the circumstances may have changed significantly.

    🛑 RIGHTS to challenge the lawfulness of the deprivation of liberty…..applies also to those in mandatory quarantine or otherwise detained in the context of public health emergency measures that are introduced to combat a pandemic.
    Such individuals must also be ensured that they are able to exercise this right effectively by,inter alia, having access to legal assistance.

    🛑 RIGHT to a fair trial
    🛑 Equality and non-discrimination..Emergency measures or powers enacted to address public health emergencies must also be exercised with respect to the principle of equality and non-discrimination based on the grounds of birth, national, ethnic or social origin, language, religion, economic condition, political or other opinion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or any other status
    🛑 Independent oversight and cooperation with human rights mechanisms

    You can also refresh your memory and re-read the former chair of the Human Rights Commission, James Austin-Smith’ letter to David Collins
    https://cnslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/Letter-from-James-Austin-Smith-to-CILPA-President-David-Collins-re-curfew-legality-18-May-2020.pdf

  5. Anonymous says:

    Great excuse to keep the borders closed until 2021, just a prediction…

    • Anonymous says:

      They will be “closed” till April 30 2021 anyway unless Mr “owns 3 hotels” forces them to do otherwise

  6. Anonymous says:

    It’s a crying shame that happened, that one was let out while being tested postive. But or course nobody in Government pays for their mistakes

    • Anonymous says:

      I heard of one ‘quarantine driver’ who offered to drop his passenger off at the supermarket on his way to the quarantine location.
      Surely these people should have the whole system explained to them.

      • Anonymous says:

        I can assure you the quarantine bus drivers are not in the loop. It’s as if they were just hired to taxi people. No masks. No plastic coverings. Quite the opposite of personnel on Cayman Airways and persons in the airport. The buses / bus drivers are definitely the link in the chain.

        • Anonymous says:

          I have to disagree – seen bus drivers with mask and gloves on while transporting individuals. However not everyone person at Cayman Airways has gloves not wear their mask properly 🤨

      • Anonymous says:

        “I heard” is one of the methods in which Donald Trump justifies the lies and distortions he spews. We don’t need the “I heard” syndrome here.

        • Not Don says:

          Some say that bus drivers are not in the loop, I’ve read that but I can vouch for it myself, though the people saying that a real smart people, top top people.

  7. Anon says:

    So we might actually have gotten a bit of immunity with this mistake. Hope the vulnerable were not exposed though

  8. Anonymous says:

    CNS : Did you mean that the “miscommunication led to the woman being RELEASED”?

  9. Anonymous says:

    So much for integrity. In the real world there are five minute tests. But to be fair, they only say whether one is positive or negative. Our tests have “levels” which must be why they cost extra and takes longer to get results.

  10. Anonymous says:

    A preprint* released two days ago reports a small randomized controlled trial suggesting that gargling with povidone-iodine clears the virus from the nose and throat within four days.

    20 asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic COVID-19 patients from a Malaysian university hospital were randomly allocated into four groups:

    Group A gargled with 10 milliliters of 1% povidone-iodine for 30 seconds, three times per day.
    Group B did the same with 20 milliliters of Listerine.
    Group C did the same thing with 100 milliliters of tap water.
    Group D acted as untreated controls.
    The patients ranged in age from 22 to 56, had positive PCR tests for COVID-19 but hadn’t developed any symptoms yet, were enrolled within 5 days of being tested, and did not receive any other treatments.

    Two patients had co-morbidities: one had asthma and one had obesity. Unfortunately, they didn’t report which groups these two patients were in.

    On day 4, 100% of those in the povidone-iodine group had cleared the virus. By contrast, 80% of those in the Listerine group, 40% of those in the tap water group, and 20% of those in the control group had cleared the virus.

    The one patient in the Listerine group who had not cleared the virus on day 4 was still positive on day 6 and was indeterminate on day 12.

    Of the three patients who remained positive on day 4 in the tap water group, two became indeterminate on day 6, but one of them slipped back into positive by day 12. No one who wasn’t negative on day 4 cleared the virus by day 12.

    In the control group, one person tested negative on day 4, but slipped into the positive or indeterminate territory by day 6. On day 12, still only one person tested negative.

    Due to its small size, the study did not have the statistical power to compare every group. However, the difference between the povidone-iodine group and the control group was statistically significant at every day.

    This study is small and was not blinded. Further studies will be needed to test this in larger samples, different populations, and to see if this treatment is effective in more serious cases where symptoms or complications have developed. Nevertheless, it provides preliminary results suggesting that gargling with povidone-iodine and Listerine can both help clear the virus, and that povidone-iodine is most effective.

    https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.09.07.20180448v1

    10% iodine solution dilution: 1 part for 19 parts of water.

    * The term “preprint” is often used in these updates. Preprints are studies destined for peer-reviewed journals that have yet to be peer-reviewed. Because COVID-19 is such a rapidly evolving disease and peer-review takes so long, most of the information circulating about the disease comes from preprints.

    Disclaimer
    I am not a medical doctor and this is not medical advice. Please consult your physician before doing anything for prevention or treatment of COVID-19, and please seek the help of a physician immediately if you believe you may have COVID-19.

    • Anonymous says:

      Jack Daniels probably works just as well.

      • Anonymous says:

        very well could be if anyone conducted a trial. See, the simplest things that worked for millennia are rejected. The crowds need “SCIENTIFIC” trials today. But today’s science is based on who is paying for it.

    • scoobie says:

      does anyone remember when trump was touting chloroquine as a cure to covid?

      then a married couple who owned a pet store found chloroquine listed as an ingredient in the fish tank cleaning solution.

      remember when the headline with them being found dead from ingesting poison came out?

      yeah this post reminds me of this story. i can’t wait to read about some soccer moms dying from drinking iodine.

      good times

      • Anonymous says:

        LoL
        Do you have problems with reading and comprehension? Appears so because you missed the words “gargling” and dilution.

      • Anonymous says:

        It was given to Boris Johnson as part of his treatment. He recuperated… He not dead yet.

  11. Naya Boy says:

    Yeah right a mix up that has hopefully not led to other infections. Very low viral level is still contagious Doc? Coronavirus fatigue another pandemic now killing the conspiracy dingbats. it’s not the contracting the virus nor the a symptomatic diagnosis that is the only problem anymore it’s side effects that is now found to be the serious life threatening aspect of this deadly virus.

  12. Anonymous says:

    This says it all….NO NEED to do a PCR test after 14 days…this has been known for months.
    Pre Test and test after 8 days is the way…This plan is a joke.

    • Anonymous says:

      Wrong. PAHO requirement is just 14 days. The incubation period can be on avg from 5 to 14 days, and the active illness period can be anywhere from 28 days to “we still don’t actually know”. Pretending everyone is a-ok after 14 days would have released a potentially very sick viral shedder into our community. 100% of our “active cases” in the last two months were discovered via secondary screening after 14 days!

      • Anonymous says:

        Makes you wonder if persons didn’t catch the virus on the bus ride from the airport to the hotel.

      • Anonymous says:

        secondary screening?

      • Anonymous says:

        That assumes they aren’t false positives! Test again after two days! No risk. If what you say is true, the person will test positive a second time.

      • Anonymous says:

        Wrong – incubation it till symptoms in general. RT-PCR test is most accurate on day 8 after last possible exposure e.g flight to the island.

  13. Anonymous says:

    How many levels of viral load are there Doctor?

  14. Anonymous says:

    Excuses, excuses. So who got fired as a result?

    • Anonymous says:

      It’s a prerequisite to be fired one has to be in the private sector. Additional factors come into play.

  15. Anonymous says:

    So we have three categories of covid – positives, negatives and of doubtful clinical significance. Have the cover the lies and incompetence some way I guess.

  16. Anonymous says:

    Cayman is at the medical forefront of Covid. We’re so advanced we now have partial positives. Do we have partial negatives as well? Have partial negatives also been let out?

  17. Anonymous says:

    We continue to have incompetents have a say in our lives. We need persons who are far more educated in government.

  18. Anonymous says:

    She was only partially pregnant?

  19. COVID-19 not an excuse for unlawful deprivation of liberty – UN expert group on arbitrary detention says:

    United Nations Human Rights
    Office of the High Commissioner

    GENEVA (8 May 2020) – A group of independent UN experts today recalled that “the prohibition of arbitrary detention is absolute even during times of public emergencies” and urged governments worldwide to prevent arbitrary deprivation of liberty in the context of the measures currently adopted for controlling the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

    “Imposition of mandatory quarantine, from which a person cannot leave for any reason, in the context of a public health emergency is de facto deprivation of liberty and safeguards against arbitrariness must be strictly observed”, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said.

    Moreover, “the States should urgently review the existing cases of deprivation of liberty across all detention settings to determine whether the detention is still justified as necessary and proportionate in the prevailing context of the COVID-19 pandemic”, experts say.

    States should refrain from holding persons of 60 years and older, pregnant women and women that are breastfeeding, persons with underlying health conditions as well as persons with disabilities, in places of deprivation of liberty where the risk to their physical and mental integrity and life is heightened.

    https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25876&LangID=E

    • Anonymous says:

      And?

      • Anonymous says:

        The human rights experts also called on Governments to release all victims of arbitrary detention.

        The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has a mandate to investigate allegations of individuals being deprived of their liberty in an arbitrary way or inconsistently with international human rights standards, and to recommend remedies such as release from detention and compensation, when appropriate.

        • Anonymous says:

          People have a choice to travel to the Cayman Islands or stay where they are. If you choose to travel to Cayman you choose to take on 14 days of limited movement to keep the population at large in a state of liberty.

          Choosing to possibly bring a disease to a healthy population and cry ‘oppression’ because you have to deny yourself freedom of movement for a relatively short period of time isn’t what this UN group is working toward.

          Selfish much?

          • Anonymous says:

            I suspect this poster is one of a very rare group of Covid immune people.

            Apparently because they attended law school this prevents them or anyone who listens to them from contracting Covid-19.

            There’s currently a medical study being conducted with double blind, double deaf and double dumb testing.

    • Anonymous says:

      Covid suppression measures are not arbitrary, they are quite specific, and our case, with a demonstrably effective and successful track record which was in the greater public interest.

      • Anonymous says:

        Quite specific. Some quarantine at home. Others at government facilities. Knowing this lady was picked up at a government facility by someone else (those are the “rules”) where is that person now?

      • Anonymous says:

        COVID-19 not an excuse for unlawful deprivation of liberty .

        There’s nothing to suppress in the Cayman Islands.

  20. Anonymous says:

    Did not pose a real threat? So are you saying someone can test positive but not pose a real threat? And the world’s greatest charade continues.

  21. Anonymous says:

    Unacceptable.

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