Test demand surges as fears over virus re-emerge
(CNS): More than 600 negative COVID-19 samples were reported Sunday after a surge of people took tests following a suspected case of community transmission. Though it appears the coronavirus has not at this time re-emerged, despite the increased fear, government officials are urging people not to be complacent. There is no sign of the global pandemic being under control and even Cayman’s strong prevention measures are not fool-proof.
Premier Alden McLaughlin has said that he is confident we have the systems in place to be able to quickly close down any outbreak of the virus but it is inevitable that cases will emerge. And despite being accused of being too conservative, McLaughlin made it clear that Cayman will not reopen fully until it can be done so safely.
McLaughlin said that, compared to rest of the world and despite the challenges the Cayman Islands face, we are better off than many. Although it turned out to be a false alarm, the case of the primary school student refocused attention on the dangers posed by the virus. Nevertheless, the premier stressed that no one would force the government’s hand to broadly reopen until science provides a way to do so safely.
While the Cayman Islands avoided the reintroduction of restrictions this time, the positive case at Red Bay school and the occasional positive tests taken from from travellers show that the risk of the virus spreading into the wider community remains.
On Saturday and Sunday a total of 966 samples were tested and only one was positive, which was from a traveller who is in quarantine. The majority of the samples reported on Sunday were taken at the HSA drive-thru testing service, which also reopened for two hours this morning.
The results show that there is unlikely to be any outbreaks in the community. However, the new interest in testing is a positive move as it helps the Public Health Department monitor any potential leaks of COVID-19 into the community.
In addition to the Red Bay student, who is still considered positive despite the low viral load count, there are currently another eight positive individuals, all of them travellers into the Cayman Islands. Seven of them are asymptomatic and are still in quarantine or isolation, but the eighth person is in hospital on a ventilator. CNS has asked for an update on this individual’s condition and we are awaiting a response.
There are currently around 400 people in isolation or quarantine, more than half or whom are now isolating at home. Despite tight measures using geofencing technology, the wider community is put at some risk from the increasing numbers of people coming into Cayman and interacting with front-line airport staff, monitoring teams and public health officials.
Premier Alden McLaughlin said Friday that we must not forget that there is a global pandemic raging just outside these shores and people here are coming and going, albeit in small numbers. He warned people against complacency and urged them to continue wearing masks when dealing with vulnerable people and continuing the habit of hand-washing, as he confirmed there would be no additional measures at this point.
Category: Health, Medical Health
Doctors and epidemiologists are not elected, they don’t have any agenda (in a perfect world) other than to give good advice regarding health risks. They are not accountable to the public. They should play an important part of policy decisions but they should not be the only voice, far from it.
In the case of this pandemic governments have largely turned over responsibilities to doctors and virologists and it’s been a disaster. Time and time again policy based on experts advice has been contradicted, reversed, double reversed, spun, walked back, re-asserted..on and on.
At some point our leaders need to face the cold hard truth, think comprehensively and lead us out of this. It’s very hard to imagine they still believe the current strategy is sustainable. Times up.
Mental health impact due to people suffering from the fear of contracting the virus and the effects of isolation during quarantine is already affecting many people inCayman. Just look at all these people who want to get tested.
I hope free mental help clinics are being set up already to address the issue.
Drop breast cancer awareness event, not a person exists who is not aware, bring awareness to mental health, especially children who are needlessly being traumatized again and again. Childhood mental traumas last lifetime.
Anyone else think HSA deliberately opened the testing up today at the busiest time when traffic is on the roads, on the hope they wouldn’t need to do as much work? Or am I being too cynical again, and they did it at that time so it wouldn’t interfere with people’s work (which if that was the case why not 7pm – 9.30pm)?
In the u.s. Mr Aldens actions would be a regulatory taking for those who own property in Cayman. An emergency declaration allows governments to restrict the publics rights for certain extreme instances of public policy. At this time one could certainly make case that this government is past the emergency powers phase. I would recommend those that own property here and are denied access, to start filing the lawsuits against Mr Alden and the government. It seems he is drunk with power and sees no accountability for his actions. Other countries are progressing their activity thus making his position to continue lockdown as very questionable as an emergency power. I am not advocating return to a precovid status, but Mr Aldens refusal to acknowledge a middle ground needs to be resisted. His comments continue send the message he has no intention of progressing a return of activity, despite other nations doing so and, more importantly, denying the existence of reasonable control measures. He states there will ne no opening until science says it can be done safely, science has shown repetitive testing on contract tracing can have reasonable covid control. Enough is enough with Mr Alden.
I think it would be very interesting to compare Cayman’s treatment of this “slightly-positive” case with the protocols that are published in other countries.
Are we following best practices and just being very conservative here or have we needlessly locked up the families of 54 school children and others that have been in contact with what probably wasn’t an actual case.
We will have more instances like this going forward and it is of questionable benefit and might eventually lead to an expensive court case against the CIG.
If we don’t have real grounds to take people’s rights away and cause further economy damage by placing families under house arrest, eventually there will be legal action and I’m not certain the CIG is on very firm ground here.
I love that a comment on whether we should be taking away peoples’ rights has more dislikes than likes!
What an amazing place we live in.
Your sarcasm is noted.