Cayman gives away 76,000 COVID-19 tests

| 27/01/2021 | 30 Comments
Cayman Islands health worker conducts COVID-19 test

(CNS): The health ministry has sent 36,000 PCR test kits to Jamaica for the ministry of health there and another 40,000 are due to go to Trinidad to be donated to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA). The 76,000 test kits were given away because Cayman’s Public Health officials will not have time to use them all before their expiration date at the end of April. However, officials said that the donation will not leave Cayman with a shortage.

The kits were purchased from South Korea in the early weeks of Cayman’s lockdown and made a significant difference to the management of the pandemic here. In order to get the kits, Cayman had to buy much more than were needed. Cayman purchased 200,000 kits at a value of $4 million, half of which was donated by wealthy philanthropist Susan Olde.

Health Minister Dwayne Seymour offered his gratitude to Olde and said the ministry was happy to help others in the region fight the pandemic.

“Cayman has been very fortunate to have been able to develop robust and scalable PCR testing capabilities early in the pandemic,” he said. “This has really helped in our mass screening programmes and our work to keep the threat of this highly infectious disease under control.”

Since buying the kits in April, the Cayman Islands Government has sold 50,000 to charities. To date, Cayman has conducted 66,481 PCR tests.

“The purchase of these test kits has really helped Cayman,” said Premier Alden McLaughlin. “Enabling us to open up our local economy, getting people back to work, students back to school and people back to living their lives. Sharing these test kits with our friends and neighbours who can use them to help save lives is beneficial to all of us.”


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  1. Anonymous says:

    I would be more concerned about ensuring that we get the shipment of the Pfizer vaccine to inject those who received their first Pfizer jab. Serious.

  2. Anonymous says:

    What happens to our supplies in April? Are we ordering more right now? Humanity’s mismanagement of COVID isn’t a show ending any time soon.

  3. Anonymous says:

    How awful Cayman, a Christian nation, provided charity to a neighbor in their time of need and all many can do is complain.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Are these really being gifted? Or sold?

  5. Anonymous says:

    Why are we giving stuff to Jamaica? We only get their criminals and awful driving habits in return.

    • anon says:

      11.55am You are glad enough to employ them, half of Cayman runs on Jamaicans.

      • Anonymous says:

        They are paid

        They don’t work for free, when some of them actually do

        And don’t mention the quality of the work of the majority of them

  6. Anonymous says:

    Does Cayman have any testing kits left? and have, how many ?

  7. Anonymous says:

    I get that the ones being donated are set to expire soon, but why is there is no mention of government bringing in more PCR test kits that will no doubt be required going forward.

  8. Anonymous says:

    Sounds like the nice lady in the office who brings in all the snacks that are passed their use by date.

  9. Anonymous says:

    Correction: The count reflect the number of tests, not kits. Each kit is 100 tests.

  10. Say it like it is says:

    Why did we buy so many kits and who made that decision?.

    • Anonymous says:

      Was thinking the same thing.

    • Craig Merren says:

      Actually the minimum amount was 500,000 but we negotiated down to 200,000 based on Cayman population and amount of testing plus not sure what was up ahead with this Covid-19, so we figure 200,000 was the magic number & reasonable to the company at the same price as 500,000.

      They (Korean company) didn’t have to do that. We just prayed & our prayers was answered. We wanted the best for our Caymanian people, that’s all we had asked for. I believe that Faith played a part in this whole process for us and saving millions in our Govt coffers.

    • Anonymous says:

      Read the article.

    • Anonymous says:

      Do you even bother to read the article before posting rubbish?

  11. Anonymous says:

    Should have at least sold them at half cost

    • Anonymous says:

      Guess it helps to have so many influential and number of Jamaicans and Trinidadians in civil service. There are other relatively poorer islands, why not help them?

      Yet these same people who will lobby for their home country want to convince generational Caymanians there are no benefits to being a dependent territory.

      Hoping to have less of that this year!

      • Anonymous says:

        Waiting to hear the donee’s response. Because their unruly people here want to upset our way of life.

    • anon says:

      SWe got them at half cost, a kind lady contributed the other half.

    • Anonymous says:

      Agreed. No wonder they told us to keep their people until they were ready for them at our expense.

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