Border opening dates still on track
(CNS): Government is not changing its plans to begin the phased reopening of the borders on 9 September, when restrictions on travellers and commercial flights will be lifted. However, Premier Wayne Panton has revealed that government is moving the date to achieve the 80% national vaccination rate target to 14 October, when Cayman is due to allow all visitors into the islands if they have had a fully verifiable course of the COVID-19 vaccine without having to isolate.
But at that time there will be a review of the circumstances before government takes that step, the premier said at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon. At that point there will very likely be transmission of the virus in this community again, he said, and we will need to have as many people as possible vaccinated to prevent anyone from getting seriously ill.
Although government is not going to make its target of 80% of the country being fully vaccinated by 9 September, everyone arriving in Cayman at that point will still be required to isolate so the risk of community spread remains much lower than it will in October, when the quarantine requirement will be removed for those who have the vaccine.
At that point the country will probably also have to reintroduce mask, social distancing and other COVID protocols in certain circumstances to try to limit the potential spread, such as reducing the number of people allowed to gather in groups, reflecting the increased level of risk.
The premier said the plan is still on track to begin lifting the isolation requirements on 14 October but a firm decision will be made ahead of that date. “We are not afraid of making a decision. What we are afraid of is people getting very sick from COVID,” he added. He warned that the risk to anyone who is not vaccinated at that point will increase significantly.
Panton also offered his backing to employers taking steps to require staff to get their shots and take what measures they feel necessary to keep their staff and customers safe. He said that the legislation to amend the immigration law to introduce the requirement for all work permit holders to be vaccinated should be tabled in Parliament before the end of this month.
Government is now planning a new vaccine campaign to get to the 80% target. It currently has over 8,600 doses, which expire at the end of October. This is almost enough to reach the target. According to the figures released Wednesday evening, 51,175 people, or 72% of the estimated population of 71,106, have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 49,187, or 69%, have had both shots.
The aim over the coming weeks is to increase access to the vaccine with pop-up clinics in all of the constituencies, and even a vaccine bus that will go from district to district. Health Minister Sabrina Turner said her ministry will also be organizing town hall meetings to enable people to raise their concerns and ask questions to tackle the stubborn reluctance among younger members of the community in particular.
Counter to the anti-vaccine messages proliferating on social media, Turner confirmed that there have been no deaths or serious illness reported to the Health Service Authority that have been attributed to the vaccine. Dr Samuel Williams-Rodriguez also confirmed that, contrary to the claims being made on social media, Cayman’s death rate this year is lower than last year and there is no indication at all that the vaccine has caused anyone’s premature demise.
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Category: Health, Medical Health, Politics
They need to get that field hospital that the PPM had ready. I am very worried about the fact that their only plan is to vaccinate. They need a contingency plan.
Vaccinate is good. Open the borders with no requirement for quarantine is not good.
If I were the PACT Government I wouldn’t open the Field Hospital. All of these anti-vaxxers are claiming that their immune systems will take care of them so let it be..Once the ICU fills up, line them up outside like they do in the States and get a 45ft refrigerated containers to store the bodies. Sorry if this sounds morbid and uncaring but I am done with these people who refuse to help themselves.
For the crazed so called champion and leader of the anti-vaxxer group who uses the tag line “my body, my choice,” this is the same woman who has self imposed on herself the title of “minister of Religion?.” Yet when I say “My body, my choice,” when it comes to abortion for women her story changes and she says women shouldn’t have that choice..
Choices have consequences and it’s time that these anti-vaxxers understand that. We cannot continue to keep our island shut hoping that by some miracle we will get through to them. It is not going to happen. They need to face the reality that is happening outside this bubble so that they can finally understand what is going on and that this virus is real.
That is whats coming because of all the damn fools in this thread. They talk about of if you had covid you have natural immunity not realizing those numbers in Cayman are quite small and being simply unvaccinated and catching Delta will more than likely land you in the hospital and maybe the morgue.
Next, having “natural immunity” does not prevent you from catching Delta. If you are unvaccinated with prior Covid infection or not you are more than twice as likely to contract Delta than fully vaccinated. A study in the UK showed that “Natural Immunity” from Covid the antibodies starts to drop almost immediately and within 3 to 6 months its has dissipated to about 10%.
But let’s get back to the crux of this statement. Let’s play stupid and say “Natural Immunity” ie having had covid before is a silver bullet, like some propose and it isn’t but let’s play stupid for a moment.
Raise your hands all you antivaxers who has had covid before? Aaah there’s 1 oh there is another. You mean hundreds maybe a few thousand of you and I only see a few hands!!! How do you expect to become “Naturally Immune” then? You want to now contract Delta to protect you against Delta? Is that your logic? Aah you do realize you could:
1. Get Delta and maybe ASymptomatic but damage your organs permanently where maybe not today but maybe a year from now you are hospitalized.
2. Get Delta and get seriously ill and survive but because of organ damage your life is changed forever.
3. You catch Delta and you spread it to all your family and friends and now your family occupies a wing at the hospital and morgue.
Listen, for those of you that do not know. No matter what level you catch Delta at it CAN (not always) but CAN scar you permanently. Read this article.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-long-term-effects/art-20490351
Delta is not something you play with.
I understand the government in a way I just think they are doing it wrong by placating to those who are “dying” for money. This decision will cost lives and the blood will be on the governments hands.
I think we really need more time to allow other countries to get their crap in order and for us to plan this out more carefully than we have because right now this is a slaughter.
Let’s look at one thing before I let you go.
In the US several vaccine companies have come out speaking about the need for boosters because of the 6 month dissipation of the various vaccines. Guess who’s vaccine shots were first? Guess. Come on. The weakest of our community. The elderly and the immunodeficient. So. When did they get their shots you say. Jan to Feb. That’s 8 to soon 9 months ago.
So, our most vulnerable will now have the lease amount of protection going into the reopening. What could go wrong??
More evidence that your own immune system is better than the vaccine in some people. I am not advocating for not vaxxing. I am advocating however for antibody testing.
Sorry for the science overload.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/08/having-sars-cov-2-once-confers-much-greater-immunity-vaccine-no-infection-parties
I am advocating you are a clueless person. Your anti-bodies is no match for Delta. This has been proven in multiple studies.
Even in their article it jokes of having a “Don’t try this at home” label. Do you know why other scientist say that? It’s because its a BS study.
NOTHING BUT NOTHING offers the protection short or long term as the vaccines. Your statement is DANGEROUSLY MISLEADING as you are not realising what you are putting in some people’s heads even if you do say “I am advocating however for antibody testing.”
Hey while you are at it maybe you should suggest us trying some bleach or “UV Light but on the inside”.
Listen, simply put people need go get vaccinated or there is a high probability you will die. Sorry to go all Grim Reaper on you but it is the facts.
Let’s establish a few things here now.
1. The current plan if executed will lead to community transmission. There is a 99.9% chance.
2. It will spread quickly amongst MOSTLY unvaccinated people with some “break through” infections with vaccinated people.
3. Caymanians will die and it will be a few well. The question is this. Will we shut back down before the numbers hit triple digits?
I am not against reopening. I am against reopening NOW!!
Why?
Simple. Most of our tourism comes through Miami. Florida has over 3.15M cases with 43.6k deaths. Miami-Dade has 604k of those cases and 6.4k of those deaths.
Commonsense says you wait until your highest support partner is ready to serve you properly.
Our focus now should be on helping the unemployed as best we can. Look at our financials from CIG, we are not dying here, we have money. Let’s use it to start reinventing ourselves for the future.
I am a great believer in everything in life happens for a reason. For each person, family or country the reason could be different. We in Cayman need to learn to diversify.
What happens if Finance sector collapses with one of these black list crap?
This lesson I feel for Cayman is this. We have lost our 2nd largest sector, how do we cope with this? This is the lesson we as a country must learn because our finance sector is on the ropes hanging on for dear life. It will never completely die but its taking blows left and right and we need learn to adapt.
This is not the right time to reopen. This is the time to reinvent.
Peace out
We’ve lived out your paranoid plan for 18 months with no end in sight. Your lack of courage is blinding you from the facts. “I don’t want to open right now”
I’m so happy the premier has shown some, albeit late, good sense to see that we’ve got to deal with this eventually. It’s not going away and the vaccines wane which makes it impossible to manage an on-going and and unenforceable vaccine program long term. Especially an evolving one. What we need is personal responsibility and knowledge of your own body and immune system. Grow TF up.
Paranoid? Did you say Paranoid? Hold on. There are 4.48 million covid deaths. Delta is 60% more infectious than the original covid and Florida is overrun.
I am just telling your dumb #@# to prepare for whats coming.
When your family member is on respirator is no time to say xy or z. Its too late then.
9:34
Florida Florida Florida…
Florida has an older population on average and a higher diabetes rate requiring more medical care. Context is important here knowing that Florida has a vastly more susceptible population going into this pandemic. It is similar to having a football game of 85 years old diabetics vs 40-year-olds…Same number of people, but the outcomes may be very different. And yes the average age of COVID mortality is 75+…
Where do most of our tourist come through? Think about it.
There are more airports than Florida. Even before covid, I tried to avoid Miami as my connecting airport along w/ any airport in NY. I aim for Charlotte or Atlanta. Get the other airlines flying in & people will be less apt to fly thru Miami.
@9:34
You should probably wear floaties whenever you get within 50ft of a body of water larger than a sink. People drown, you know. Can’t be too safe.
But because we have stayed close for so long there won’t be much natural immunity in the cayman community – another reason to open, let the vaccine do its work and get on with life, no point delaying as Covid is never going away
CloseD
Stupid opening the borders at this time when the covid is raging in Florida and Jamaica the two main places people comes here from, very foolish indeed
Raging is an exaggeration. Today, my FL county reports fewer COVID-19 patients. I live in 55+ community, no one is sick with COVID.
It is not COVID, but snowbirds that didn’t return to their homelands complicate our lives-traffic is crazy.
You are a liar 3:43. What is your Florida County?
COVID cases were up in every Florida County yesterday.
Record number of new cases and deaths yesterday in Florida.
You must be working for the delusional Governor.
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/feds-warn-alarming-rise-reports-fake-vaccine-cards/story?id=79666216
Please everyone do all you can to stop P4 of CIG’s reopening plan!
This is madness… People want to come here because we have a utopia in this covid infested world. They will quarantine for 5 days to freely interact with the rest of the society.
The cavalier attitude of introducing covid indirectly by way of air travellers walking straight into the community on arrival is shocking. Not to mention, “wreckless”.
We should remain in P3 of the reopening plan.. Well, until further notice.
Reckless
“Wreckless” in quotations was my intended way of spelling “Reckless”. If it eludes you…just let it be.
5:26 response and the following thread are the best so far.
Stop sounding like a broken record. While Cayman is ahead of the entire planet when it comes to vaccinations, Pfizer shots are ineffective for the Delta variant.
*CNS: Pfizer shots are not ineffective for Delta. Almost all hospitalizations and deaths in the US are among the unvaccinated.
Time to change the strategy and the tune of the comments.
Either get boosters or get ready for the most effective inpatient treatments and preventative outpatient treatments. Or keep borders closed for another year.
The links to the latest treatments guidelines are provided
One more thing, start addressing obesity, the #1 cause of covid mortality. Sadly, half of CIG is obese and they know the risks that come with it.
Thank you CNS for the edit. People talking out their body parts with no clue as to what they are saying. READ!!!
It is true that the effectiveness of the vaccines against Delta are down compared to other strains but its not ineffective.
99.9% of all deaths are unvaccinated.
NIH has come out and said that as of May 9th they believe the vaccines to have prevented as much as 140k deaths
I am in agreement with delaying the reopening. I would like to see Florida in a better situation.
The only way that the numbers will change is if vaccination mandates are encouraged. Want to travel then get vaccinated. Want to work with the public then get vaccinated. Want to go to a bar or restaurant then get vaccinated.
Switch focus to treatments. Enough people already got vaccinated, few more won’t make any difference. Read 5:26 comment.
What is new in the Coronavirus treatments guidelines.
https://www.covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/about-the-guidelines/whats-new/
CIG should have refocused from vaccinations to treatments, since pretty much everyone who could and wanted got the jabs already, which unfortunately ineffective for Delta.
Today, the cost of the vaccine is less than $40 a jab. The average cost of COVID treatment is between $20,000-$50,000. Less cost, less death and less harm, even if a booster is needed.
Excellent post! – absolutely right on the money.
6:10 You are ABSOLUTELY CLUELESS!!
Has anyone else noticed that since the press conference there has been no daily information published on vaccination progress? Transparency?
Clear away all the noise and bottom line is that when the borders open, Covid will come in and some will get very sick and some will probably die. It is very likely that fewer vaxxed than unvaxxed will get seriously sick or die. The question is who profits from that opening. The past 15 months have shown that tourism is not critical to the economy. It is only one employment option for a small percentage of Caymanians.
The is about way more than tourist dollars. If you have young kids you are literally a prisoner to the island unless you have unlimited financial resources and an enormous amount of vacation time to spend locked up in quarantine. This is about freedom and and way of life. What makes you believe that things will be any different a year or 5 years from now? Have any of the predictions been correct so far? Lock yourself down.
I am actually in favour of Caymanians and other residents being able to travel if fully vaccinated with limited quarantine on return. I am against inviting hordes of infected tourists who refuse to comply with any public health rules to come to my country.
Why because Caymanians can’t bring Covid in or out with travel but those tourists… oh those tourists….they will just overflow the island with Covid.
Does that make sense?
@6:36
You are so selfish!
Your vacation wants are of miniscule importance compared to the havoc that covid is going to wreak on this society.
Lots would like to lay all blame at the feet of the (by choice) unvaccinated populace (yes,some blame is deserved).
But have you ever stopped to think that a 100% of all under 12yrs old are unvaccinated?. How large is that population?
Yes,they don’t have a choice… They are simply ineligible.
Do you believe they are immune from covid?
Do you believe that back from your vacation you should just be able to walk right up to the school drop off your kids, and interact with others knowing you could potentially be positive for covid?
Introducing covid to the community as per P4 of CIG’s reopening plan (if not averted) will be remembered as a sabotage of the citizens, and the economy.
This madness is being encouraged by selfish people like yourself… After Sept 9th you can freely go on your vacation. Just come back and quarantine.
Yes, quarantine is the practical solution… You and your beautiful family is indeed very important. But you are but one family.
I am vaccinated. I hope you are, too. Put a mask on the little one. Keep them 6 ft. from my space. Outside would be best and in small groups. Hand sanitizer or hand washing often. Covid is here for a long time/ maybe forever.
Look, if you want to pretend that 12 year old and under kids are in more danger from covid-19 than they are from the flu you are free to do so, but your paranoia is not supported by science or data.
Did anyone mask kids for the flu? Do we intend to mask kids for the flu going forward? If your answer is no then it follows that your panic based rant is illogical.
I get it, you would prefer to live, if necessary in an insulated bubble forever because you are scared. Most people don’t want to live that way. So who’s the selfish one?
I keep hearing there are more and more kids being hospitalized in the US. It will be tragic that the vacationers popped the bubble we have now and some kids had to die so they didn’t have to quarantine and wanted to sell some watches or beers to tourists.
It drives me mad that people keep posting ‘the vaccine doesn;t top you catching or spreading it’. What do you people not understand:
1. We always knew vaccines would not prevent catching or spreading
2. Vaccines massively reduce chances of catching or spreading vs unvaccinated though
3. cases/catching/spreading is not the big concern – the concern for any country is deaths and serious illness in hospital
4. Vaccinated are way way less likely to get serious illness or die and use hospital space
5. Cases therefore don’t matter at all if people are not getting seriously ill and dying
6. You cannot stop COVID coming to Cayman and spreading forever – COVID will be here still in 50 years time – therefore best to open now and start living with it.
Get vaccinated to protect yourself and the community. There are no risks from Pfizer. I also especially encourage pregnant women to get jabbed as they are at bigger risk if pregnant and they get COVID without a vaccine
#1 we didn’t
#2 in theory, still no long-term data
#3 concern is that Cayman hospitals capacity to treat COVID patients is not adequate
#4 in theory. The latest data shows some unexpected developments, especially if vaccinated people are obese.
#5 What cases?
#6 Agree
The last paragraph- MYOB
It’s on you if you can’t read reputable studies regarding the vaccines and covid.
1. WRONG – Pfizer clinical trial calculated ~90% reduction in catching covid. That was with the original strain. With Delta it’s 0% reduction. The approval of the vaccines was premised on reduction in incidence of catching covid. That was the way to get to herd immunity.
Most countries with multiple waves (Europe, India, USA) already got to pretty close to herd immunity, not by injection but through infection with COVID. Delta is quickly picking off the remainder that hasn’t had it yet.
2. WRONG – the positivity rate in Israel is almost identical for unvaccinated and vaccinated. But it’s multiple times lower for people with natural immunity. Not just Israel, countless other countries as well. USA “data” on infections is a complete joke.
3. Catching and spreading is a concern because it means there is a lot of virus present in community. You can get long covid even if you are vaccinated. No evidence whatsoever that long covid doesn’t happen with vaccinated at similar rates to unvaccinated. Further, even with natural immunity after infection if you come into contact with the virus enough times eventually you’ll catch it again. And finally if this virus encounters enough people with the identical vaccine induced defense mechanism it will eventually find a way to evade it as has been proven so far. Worse strains with constantly present virus will emerge.
4. Only true in the older population or folks in at risk groups like obesity, diabetes etc. If you look at the UK data for delta, there is no mortality advantage for the vaccinated under 50. None. And you’re not counting the mortality from the vaccine itself which does happen occasionally among both the young and old.
5. People will get seriously ill and will die with Delta even when vaccinated.
6. You can and should try to stop it from spreading until we have better treatment plans. Pfizer will oblige you in a couple of months with a protease inhibitor that will reduce or stop the replication of the virus when applied early.
You won’t start living normally because the consequence of wholesale opening will be immediate surge at hospitals and death. Followed by shock that vaccines don’t work as well as expected and then another lockdown.
Thank you 5:26.
1. Correct
2. Correct
3. Correct
4. Correct.
5. Correct
6. Correct. New treatments such as monoclonal antibodies do work if administered early. Vaccinated obese and immunocompromised people should not wait and head for the treatment right away. .
Vaccination rate in Cayman is very high, CIG should now focus on obtaining monoclonal antibodies treatments.
Along with vaccinations doctors need to bone up on their treatment protocols for those who have mild symptoms. They shouldn’t be telling patients to go home and only come back when your lips turn blue.
Early treatment save lives and hospital space.
Here’s a pretty good example of how most mild treatment is handled and why people subject to worse disease progress. In short, beyond pain meds, the mayo clinic says stay home until your lips turn blue. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/treating-covid-19-at-home/art-20483273
Here are guides you and your doctor to help keep you from needing emergency care: https://covid19criticalcare.com/covid-19-protocols/
Excellent points. Thank you. Is Cayman ready?
COVID In Florida: More Than 10,000 Have Received Monoclonal Antibody Treatment.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/miami.cbslocal.com/2021/08/25/covid-florida-more-than-10000-received-monoclonal-antibody-treatment/%3famp
Can Dr.Lee provide information where Cayman Hospitals stand in regards to preventing hospitalization and the latest hospital treatments methods. Everyone knows by now that ventilators are the last resort.
DeSantis has a clear conflict of interest as his biggest donor is heavily invested in Regeneron.
Unlike the Pfizer Vaccine which is fully FDA approved, the antibody treatments are only under EUA.
Prevention is our best chance at limiting COVID spread, curative treatments are brilliant for treating the breakthrough cases and should absolutely be added to our arsenal against COVID. Immunisation still has clear advantages in terms of overall public health and cost perspectives.
Speaking from experience, mild symptoms do NOT require treatment by doctors.
That’s great for you but for many, mild symptoms often progress to severe symptoms that require hospitalization. The good news is, there are studies that have shown effective treatments to stop progression. Doctors need to take note of the protocols ahead of opening.
https://covid19criticalcare.com/covid-19-protocols/
Complete rubbish. I hope people don’t believe these lies put forth by a cleat anti-vaxxer.
What is your source for saying that Pfizer offers zero percent protection against Covid. Go on – stick in a reference to a reputable source. But you cant, can you, 5:26 – because you just made it up.
Try this – https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02261-8
Nature, a highly respected scientific publication. Says 92% protection against Delta, fading to 758% over time. little bit more than your zero percent figure you pulled out of your arse.
I’ll take a friendly wager that we’ll wait until an elderly relative of a powerful lodge member dies and then we’ll go back into lockdown.
Lockdown is imminent, no lodge reasons needed for that
Just look at other countries that opened their borders
We are simply following those that jumped off the cliff, because we must!
Most had or have vaccination rates.
Low vaccination rates
Correct decision Hon Premier and team. Let’s get this island moving again. Plus I want to buy some cheap clothing in Miami.
12:36, You want to buy cheap clothing in Miami? You will love it there. Morgues are overflowing, refrigerated trucks with bodies inside on the streets, hospitals all completely full with COVID cases and vaccination rate of 51%.
Nearly a 1,000 deaths a day now from COVID.
Never a better time to visit Miami. Perhaps you will not come back?
More places than Miami. Travel the whole US. There are areas where Covid is low. Go North and see the autumn leaves. Some of those states have very high vaccination rates.
There were 8 deaths in all of FL yesterday. You’re only off by about 12000%.
There were 27,584 new COVID cases in Florida yesterday.
A new record for Florida beating all the records for last year.
Who in their right mind would want to visit Florida now?
I would. Cases are generally irrelevant unless you aren’t taking responsibility for your own health ie vaccines or preventative measures..
In any case the survival rate is still 99.7% if you do nothing.
My mind isn’t full of irrational fear. Only data.
Anyone understand why they said you still need to get permission from travel time from Oct 14 to at least Jan. Why if we don’t have travel restrictions? If you have children and have visitors are you still expected to quarantine at that point..
Yes. And if you are unvaccinated. Which is why you need to contact Travel Cayman – so they can establish your status and make the arrangements for quarantine as necessary.
Because the unvaccinated have to quarantine. Make sense – can;t have unvaxed in the community immediately – despite many lies posted on here, the unvaxed catch it and spread it more easily so are a bigger danger to society
Only verifiable vaccinated people can enter without quarantine. The intention anyway.
That’s the problem here in cayman,they keep watching Jamaica,Jamaica is a big country and see what happening there,cayman is very small and we have to think smart,I had both of my vaccines already but going back to wear mask is not my favourites,we still have to be careful and stop watching other countries
12:00, We really should be watching Floriduh. A COVID nightmare in the making every day and a vaccination rate of only 51%.
We should not open up to Florida till next year.
Ignore Floriduh at your own peril.
My sentiments exactly. Why is there a rush to open up now when our main source of tourists (America cough cough) has mounting cases of the different variants which they have not been able to control or contain? I’m worried about my kids because even vaccinated I could still catch covid and pass it on to them. I do not even want my kids to be mildly sick from this, especially when my oldest is asthmatic.
Oxymoron of the year goes to the earlier poster who believes in a God but then goes ahead and calls the unvaxxed ‘fools’………they may be fools but maybe not delusional………anyway…….
The huge majority of those people in danger of Covid or Delta Covid or whatever comes after that are unfortunately the elderly and/or people with underlying conditions. You have to believe in the science.
What’s weird is many of the Vaxxed still believe they can’t transmit the virus, the science says differently. Sadly the power of the vaccines is waning rapidly, how many times are boosters going to be needed ? The viral loads for vaxxed anal unvaxxed are now pretty similar.
I better put up the credible link before Wendy’s head explodes, but let me be clear, the report still states you should get the vaccine.
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/british-study-shows-covid-19-vaccine-efficacy-wanes-under-delta-2021-08-18/
“Based on more than three million nose and throat swabs taken across Britain, the Oxford University study found that 90 days after a second shot of the Pfizer or Astrazeneca vaccine, their efficacy in preventing infections had slipped to 75% and 61% respectively.”
So I think what’s really dangerous is the uneducated vaxxed think they have a magic bullet and they believe all unvaxxed are the only danger to society.
Nothing could be further from the scientific facts.
Should be same quarantine for all or none.
CNS: You know that Wendy doesn’t moderate the comments, right? She only rarely has time to even read them, so not sure why her head would explode.
The magic jab maybe not BUT science says and currant numbers prove 97% of hospitalizations for covid are unvaccinated people.
We can’t stay locked up in a bubble for ever and this virus will be with us forever.
1 year and you are whinging because tourists cannot come here and spread it.
I watched an idiot on Marl Road call something an oxymoron which wasn’t. I think this poster has given his identity away with his own stupidity. Right MR?
Good observation and I think you’re right! The same style of rambling nonsensical comment.
CNS – Apologies I did not know that. A moderator did say a few days ago something about their head exploding if they had to keep reiterating to people to stay away from crazy conspiracy web sites.
Keep up the good work.
CNS: Thank you! (There’s only one moderator)
I have really enjoyed meeting family and friends socially at restaurants and homes. I am sad that that will all be ending on 14 October. Many local businesses are going to be badly hurt by this.
Ridiculous! Get a grip! Is this how you deal with everything?
Get a vaccination. Have your friends and family get vaccinated. Do outdoor entertaining. Social distance when possible. Wear a mask in high traffic areas. Wash your hands.
Enjoy life.
Good for you!Now I would like to go see my family.
Which “tourist” is going to want to come here when community transmission happens? Who gives a sh*t if they dont want to quarantine? I would not mind quarantining a few days to walk around freely. Stop listening to these careless a$$holes? We are gonna go into lockdown again for a few dollars? We can survive without tourism.
But tourists are going everywhere else with community spread? For the last few months UK nationals have been flocking on full flights to Spain, Greece’s, Italy, France, Caribbean islands, Turkey etc and all those countries have huge community spreads?
People who ignore Covid or think that they are immortal are not the tourists we want here.
Most US tourists do not have long holidays and do not want to spend that time in quarantine. They will go to the many, many places open and welcoming that do not have quarantine. Community spread is not the big threat like you are panicking about if you are vaccinated. The vaccinated have the vaccine as a layer of protection plus can wear a mask, stay out of large groups, partake in outdoor activities, social distance, wash hands. All those things reduce risk.
Then why are so many people getting the stipend? And they just added over 400 more. Should we just pay this forever? Covid is not going anywhere.
Dropping quarantine at a time when the 4th Covid wave in North America and Europe will be at its worst has to be one of the stupidest decisions of any government.
With a near fully vaccinated population and only fully vaccinated traveller’s allowed to bypass quarantine, this is unlikely to happen. Any spread here will be limited.
No lockdown needed – we need to learn to live with the virus
What is needed is clear legislation encouraging or at least authorizing businesses to implement vaccine mandates for staff and entrance restrictions for those not vaccinated.
How can other islands have been open for over a year with no more lock downs even before the vaccine?
Think you need to calm down
We need to add more flights as quickly as possible to make sure that we infect as many people as possible – that is the take home message from yesterday.
CNN
“More than 100,317 Covid-19 patients were in US hospitals Wednesday — more than six times higher than the figure was roughly nine weeks ago, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.”
And CNS they are nearly ALL unvaccinated people!
Turks and Caicos has been fine for a years!
@10:09am
Note that those with only one shot of the vaccine were also considered unvaccinated. Those with one shot were hospitalised at a rate of 29x that of those with two vaccine shots.
So in totality, if you consider those with one shot as vaccinated, then the majority of those hospitalised as a result of Covid-19 were vaccinated.
And why would you consider those with one shot vaccinated? Because you don’t want to have to accept the statistics on those people who were fully vaccinated are way, way better than those that were not vaccinated at all? Surely your stats simply demonstrate the importance of completing the course, rather than somehow justifying not being vaccinated. Incidentally, got any comparatives between one shot recipients and completely unvaxxed? Or do they not suit your narrative either?
Because in the beginning, one shot was enough, then it was two and NOW it is three…
CNS: Porky pies. The Pfizer vaccine and most of the others were always 2-shot vaccines.
Stop comparing us to the US. The US in some regions (Florida especially) has a very low vaccination rate compared to cayman. Also cases are not an issue – cases are inevitable – we have to learn to live with COVID as it is never going away. If we have a high vaccination rate then Delta will burn out quickly and the hospitals will be able to handle any hospital admissions amongst the unvaccinated. It’s not that difficult – do what the rest of the world has been doing for ages – masks, social distancing, only let vaccinated in as tourists, wash hands regularly, and regular testing so any positive cases are quickly told to self-isolate. You cannot deprive vaccinated Cayman residents of wanting to go on vacation and visit family abroad.
Cayman has had over 600 cases. Has it bothered anyone. No, the person went into quarantine. Just like what will happen when the border opens. Chill out.
There will be no testing or quarantine after 14 October for those claiming to be vaccinated.
Verify vaccination will be shown. Masks in high traffic areas. High vaccination levels on island. Get your vaccine. If someone gets Covid, they will quarantine & everyone else will continue on. RELAX
Not true. There will be testing but not quarantine for the vaccinated. Supposedly.
If they get Covid they will be put in quarantine. Read & relax
Hope you’re vaxed.
@ 26/08/2021 at 9:59 am – nope! Msg was “go get yourself vaccinated before we open up, idiots”! Even JuJu did it.
press conference decoded:
we failed with our orignal 80% target/plan.
we will see if we get 80% for oct 14th.
we might change the goal posts again before oct 14th.
still no real plan from no-plan-pact.
My father always said that there were 2 types of people that don’t change their minds: A fool or a dead man.
Choose wisely, if you can…
sadly you are probably right.
I’m calling BS on the reopening date.
With cases soaring in the US and daily deaths about to follow, it makes very little sense to rush the reopening plan until things get under control in other parts of the world.
As someone who works in tourism, we have already lost all there is to loose. Waiting a few more months in a small price to pay to make sure we are not forced into another lockdown. As it stands, the company I work for is still holding on and is in business. If they need to start hiring more staff and ramping up for a return of tourism, only to have that taken away again, I don’t think the company will survive.
When the virus comes to the island and we are forced to make restrictions again, we will see many small businesses, restaurants, gyms etc, suffer. Did you enjoy homeschooling your kids last year??
I think 95% of the people on this site wanting to reopen don’t care about tourism, they just want freedom to be able to travel on and off the island. Start there. Add more flights but don’t rush to get ride or a basic quarantine just yet.
Restrict yourself, it’s not going any where. Time to grow up.
We can be selective like other countries – for example we should let vaccinated caymanians and residents fly out as unfair to deprive vacations for 2 years, but make us quarantine for 5 days on return. Similarly make it a requirement to be vaccinated to come as a visitor, and Florida for example should maybe be a red list where as New York and London green list, based on unvaccinated and case rates.
They already said unvaccinated have to quarantine for 14 days. If you’re vaccinated, stop panicking! If you’re not vaccinated, go get vaccinated and stop panicking.
This message goes out to all the unvaccinated…
First let me start by this. If you are doing it because a doctor advises against it okay. Shelter. This is going to be a dangerous time out there.
For all the other damn fools like the antivaxers. God speed to ya. I pray for your family not you. I pray that after your passing they find someone with half a brain to lead their family unit and that they don’t waste a tear on your dead stupid @$$ for placing your life in danger for some conspiracy theory they were not smart enough to figure out was bs.
On Oct 14th all bets are off. For all those SCREAMING OPEN UP. You are the ones responsible for whats to come. Every death is blood on your hands.
Have you been smoking that stuff again? Lighten up, man! Don’t be trying to run somebody else’s life when you are having trouble running your own. You don’t have the time to take care of everybody!
No Ayatola Uso, I actually pay my bills…
The people at UCCI should institute a new faculty called “Stupid” and all anti vaxxers should enrol in their courses.
You could do with some education too and learn the difference between an anti vaxxer and vaccine hesitant. MRnA has NEVER been used on humans before, it does not fit the definition of vaccines we are used to.
Any plans to import the J&J vaccine to Cayman?
What part of vaxxed and unvaxxed can equally catch and spread virus do you not understand?
You are wrong. Unvaccinated catch and spread it far more. Stop believing facebook and conspiracies’.
Cayman has done so well because of the way they handled this virus with quarantine for all. I am absolutely shocked at the Premier and Government announcing that borders will be opened for all with no requirement for quarantine. This strategy is completely reckless and does not make any sense. The Premier spoke about BVI after opening borders, however this decision will return the country back to where they were 18 months ago. It will result in multiple deaths because this time with the Delta variant, transmission will rip through our community and fill our hospitals. This decision is economically driven when it should be health driven. The Premier and the CI Government will have blood on there hands and the reputation of this new Government will be unrecoverable. Study the data coming out of Israel and it will clearly tell you what we will experience after October 14th.
The solution is to have a phased step by step opening of borders. shorten quarantine requirement but continue with testing all residents and visitors. Require Covid testing before travel. test on arrival, test after a 5 day quarantine for all and test after a further 5 days after quarantine release. I encourage Mr. Premier, “son of the soil” to adopt a soft phased opening of borders and do the right thing and rethink his reckless plan and strategy to open borders because if he does not we are all going to lose the freedoms of near normal life and will be back under strict lockdown again. Please be smart and cautious not reckless with no common sense applied.
Covid is not going anywhere and they know that they need to open up eventually. They are doing a phased approach to the border opening. Everyone has had more than enough opportunity to get vaccinated. We can’t stay closed forever.
It is not about being vaccinated because there is little difference between whether you are vaccinated or not for everyone can become infected and transmit the virus just the same. Israel is reporting that even the people who have had the third shot can get the infection , carry it and transmit it.
Dear god how many times does it have to be explained to people like you? Anyone who catches it can transmit it, true, but you are significantly less likely to catch it in the first place if you are vaccinated, and if you do catch it, way, wayt less likely to get seriously ill or die. And its not just about you – if you don’t catch it you cant transmit it to someone who doesn’t have the luxury of choice. If you can get vaccinated and choose not to, you are not only making a really bad choice for own health – you are endangering other people. You are no better than a drunk driver.
I wish I could upvote this 100 times. You can explain this over and over and too many people are sitting with their fingers in their ears going “lala, lala, la.”
I am with you anon 08:16 an. Lots of darn idiots out there who have no damn clue what’s coming. Open up is Russian roulette for all.
Russian roulette for all? Not really the same game for the vaxxed and unvaxxed though, is it? The vaccinated have way fewer bullets in the cylinder, and they more than likely blanks. You cannot compare a 75% effective resistance to catching the disease at all with no protection, nor can you argue the fundamentally different statistics on outcome.
Why are caymanians such COWARDS SAY WHAT YOU MEAN AND MEAN WHAT YOU SAY.why hide behind ANONYMOUS. THIS IS WHY WE ARE LOSING OUR ISLANDS.open it up give full freedom or keep it closed. There is no in between. I wont isolate again and if we all stand together they cant stop us. Stop playing with people lives.ALL OR NOTHING.
Says the guy that takes no position. Lol
Confused ??!! Open up or stay closed ??
Shane just wants to SHOUT about making a stand over…AnYThInG aNd EveRythung. He just angry.
All that time on the inside will get to you.
Require vaccination to receive stipend cheques and you will quickly increase uptake.
Better yet – make vaccination a requirement for everyone wanting to leave their own house/apartment.
JMC, Better still, make all unvaccinated CIG employees and unvaccinated employees in the private sector, pay a $200 a month premium to cover the health care costs for the unvaccinated.
Why should society have to pay the costs for the minority of Cayman society that is totally stupid in regards to vaccinations?
Yes, let us open the country back up because the monetary risks far outweighs the Covid risks????
Don’t look forward to going backwards – mask, social distancing and all the other stuff.
But hey Caymanian politicians are bowing to the pressure now and hopefully we will not end up have to completely close down our borders in a short period of time, like our neighbour Jamaica.
As for Brac/Little – unna watch out for your elderly because if the Delta variant hits, seriously doubt that Faith Hospital can handle the load.
Very true. Little Cayman has only a basic clinic and no way of even testing for Covid let alone treating it.
Tight ass bastard. Issue a 2nd pension fund withdrawal incentive to get the vaccine shot from those grossly overcharging underperforming pensions that blatantly rip off pensioners with their 1.5% MER fee. A simple $7 index ETF such as SPY or VOO with a MER fee of 0.03% massively outperforms those BS leech pensions. No wonder the owners of those pensions are multi millionaires. STICK IT to those pensions and issue another pension fund withdrawal! Resulting in 80%+ community vaccinated. Problem solved
I actually thought the press conference was very encouraging. 3 key things I took from it:
1. Panton realizes a no covid strategy is ridiculous and community spread is inevitable when we open – was always crazy to hear some people think we could keep it out forever
2. He is happy to change or delay the 80 per cent target and keep to the planned reopening plan if not met – suggests we will open fully on October 14 even if still stuck around 70 per cent and the unvaccinated will have to deal with the consequences of their stupid decisions
3. Quote rightly, he is criticizing the unvaccinated and said there is ‘no excuse’ to not get jabbed
I think he has been forced kicking and screaming to make this u-turn by the strength of public opinion and a realisation they, CIG, were wrong to set such a ridiculously high target. You can’t fix stupid and there are a lot of stupid people in Cayman.
And somehow the majority of stupid works in civil service
@ Anon 26/08/2021 at 8:22 am – oh I don’t think WP was “forced kicking and screaming” at all. He gave everyone the opportunity to get vaxxed, even got JuJu and possibly all of her followers to get it, she can now mandate all teachers get it, he’s given everyone in the biz community the option to “encourage” their staff to get vaxxed, he’s done everything a leader is able to do to ensure we can open as safely as we possibly can whilst ensuring everyone understands the reality. CIG will be “encouraged” to get vaxxed too. Softly, softly.
I also thought Panton was basically asking businesses to adopt vaccination policies for their staff and perhaps for patrons. I really hope businesses step up and do this now.
Yes – but without going so far as to give them legal protection for doing so. Slippery shoulder job – he doesn’t have the balls to mandate it, or to pass emergency legislation to insulate businesses that follow his advice from legal action, but he still expects them to help him out by taking on the risk.
Very good. Govt clarified the steps for full reopen by oct and easing some restrictions will help to see if any problem I congratulate Hon Panton for ack that we will have transmission locally once we open borders and remove quarantine for vaccinated even if we get 80 percent of imaginary pop. This fact has to go into each and every residents mind.we have to accept we the whole world has to live with covid 19 with protection and precautions as we have been doing with flu.
Good work Gov. Keep it up.
I have read so many comments from people who are not inclined to be vaccinated who reference their “freedoms” and “rights.” I KNOW these are good people. I KNOW that these are people who I have every faith would throw themselves in front of a bus or into the sea to save their neighbor. I also know that they would never want to possibly infect their neighbors with a life-threatening illness. I ask that they please ask their trusted physicians for advice about the vaccine.
We are building a place in East End for them, it should be ready soon.
So this is all being done to attract phantom tourists to the hotels? The current plan requiring the use of masks indoors will come at a high cost to a ton of local small business such as gyms, restaurants, bars, movie theaters, hair salons etc. basically any business that requires high capacity or close quarters indoor gathering and I believe will only marginally help the hotels and tourism industry. Leave it the way it is or remove all restrictions. For heavens sake please do NOT move Cayman to the way the rest of the world has been living for the past 18 months.
9:35, you obviously have no clue about how “the rest of the world has been living for the past 18 months”. We have been LIVING!!!! Yes, we wore masks for a few months but no lockdowns, no curfews, no restrictions on grocery shopping only on certain days, schools/restaurants are open and thriving, traveling freely (both domestically and internationally). Vaccines are readily available here for free and people have taken them.
You have been so controlled by government’s fear tactics and unsustainable “bubble” that you can’t even realize what you’ve missed out on.
Reconstituting covid restrictions (mask wearing indoors) will close my business and probably do irreparable harm to many others. Either open with no restrictions or don’t open!
No they won’t.
What is so difficult about putting a mask on when you enter a shop or restaurant!!? It’s been normal in the rest of the world for 18 months.
Why is a mask such a big deal?
Get vaccinated and forget about the masks. Look at Obama’s birthday party full of elites, policy makers and influencers who relentlessly push vaccines and masks. All of them frolicking away maskless at his party. Same thing at Pelosi’s Napa Valley $$$$$ lunch party.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIrrN9NSOAk
Or just wear your mask.
JHealthy kids are virtually bullet proof when it comes to Covid, a runny nose is probably as bad as it gets.
Other than kids with underlying conditions, it simply doesn’t make sense to jab children under 12.
I don’t like the govt stating they are still on track to lift isolations on the 14th but will revisit their decision prior to the 14th.
They are delusional if they believe there is not going to be a huge rise in number of cases when they open up. It’s all in the numbers, irrelevant of when we open up it’s going to happen.
Moving the goalposts to October 14th is just another stalling tactic. Nothing new in that press conference.
“We are not afraid of making a decision.
Err seems like ye are afraid………of the inevitable.
This was true of the Alpha variant but not of the Delta. Children will need to be masking at school and all teachers and staff should have mandatory vaccines.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2021/08/25/pediatric-covid-hospitalizations-surge-to-highest-on-record-in-us-as-doctors-brace-for-more.html
@ 10:29am let’s say a vaccinated teacher catches the Delta variant and passes it on to a child at the school?! This was not well thought out. Vaccination does not prevent catching or spreading covid and it’s variants.
They will both quarantine and the rest continue on. BUT, they should have been social distancing so the risk could have been avoided along with hand washing and masks (if social distancing not an option).
6:30pm Exactly!! Hundreds of kids at my kids’ school district had it last year…..isolate students at home and back to school after that. Simple. So far this year, hundreds more and same thing. Not a single case of serious illness or death. Not one.
Schools did not have to close down either.
I would like to know if the HSA has a way or has even attempted to link vaccines to serious illness or death. A heart attack is a heart attack, a stroke is a stroke especially with comorbidities present. Entirely the opposite operating procedure used when a person dies with COVID-19.
When there is an outbreak are they going to lockdown again? Based on outbreaks in other highly vaccinated countries, vaccine doesn’t prevent spread…
Exactly. They should explain that, and the likely issues the community will confront, all because people are supposedly unwilling to quarantine.
Thousands are willing to quarantine for 5 days. Why not start by accepting them, rather than throwing open the doors on 14 October?
Are you new to covid vaccine? It was not meant to prevent spread but to prevent death. So if you have the jabs you are highly unlikely to end up taking hospital resources. That’s why you get vaxxed.
Actually the vaccines were meant to prevent spread. Or else why was it the silver bullet we were waiting for while we were stuck with other crude management measures.
Wrong. Vaccines are to stop a health system being unable to cope and running out of beds
Get vaccinated and you pretty much eliminate the risk of being sick even if you catch Covid.
If you’re worried about the borders opening, get your jab and you won’t need to be worried.
Cayman is going to be an ideal case study once the borders reopen. The world will be talking about Cayman. Among the highest vaccination rates in the world and a full blown out of control Delta outbreak with no natural immunity to reduce the transmission. XXXX
For all those who a year or so ago argued that Sweden’s experiment on its people and economy (the no-lockdown model) was so great, ummh, it wasn’t… and isn’t.
https://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-covid-no-lockdown-strategy-failed-higher-death-rate-2021-8
Yes it ranks 34 out of 154. Once again, based on the models, Sweden not having closed down should have number 1, with the rest of the world fighting for a substantially distant second.
In deaths per million without a lockdown strategy Sweden faired better than the UK, USA, Italy, Belgium, Spain, France and more than 30 other countries that implemented lockdown policies.
We need to put that into perspective. You are correct, Sweden was not the beacon of light that a lot wanted it to be with its no lockdown approach. However, when you filter for deaths per population (highest to lowest), Sweden is ranked 39. Notable countries that locked down and have worst numbers are the UK, US, Italy. So what can we take from this stat when we can see that Sweden didn’t do great but they also didn’t do poorly. Does this mean that the lock down is ineffective or does it mean the no lockdown is ineffective?
Pulling stats like this to serve your bias needs to stop. too often people will find a quick link to show some article as if it is the bastion of truth. I noticed your article does not state where it gets its numbers from but it was more than happy to provide source for the negative attitudes towards Swedens approach. People will always have biases, but don’t bring half assed information thinking your have done the full research and try to paint a picture to help your stance. Start coming with actual data and try a proper analysis. Tired of this rubbish from society now days.
I would also note, there are countries that locked down and did great as pertains to keeping the deaths down. Look at us (Cayman) and New Zealand. However the low death count is not the be all and end all. We need to look at the ripple effects of these lockdowns, being the economic and social effects and whether they are a positive or negative.
So did Sweden do well keeping the deaths down when we account for the countries population? They did, I would argue about the same as the US and the UK and most major countries.
I would bring it back to you, you seem to think that lockdowns are the best approach but a country with no lockdown performed about the same if not slightly better.
So what’s your point? Why are you bringing this up? Are you saying that a lockdown is the only approach? I’ve made my point above about you choosing to reference Sweden as a symbol of no lockdown.
Try to come better than this. Your lackadaisical approach to proving your point on makes you appear unintelligent.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries
Lol. Try reading the article first, before going on your little rant. What was the point to the post? Apologies for not spelling every little detail out for you – may want to ask your mommy to do so next time.
Most who are anti-lockdown hold/held Sweden as a beacon of light. As it turns out, things fared far worse for them than for their immediate and comparable nordic neighbours (Norway; Finland; Denmark). Throw in Canada in there as well (similar to Sweden in its low density) and there’s another country against which Sweden performed far poorer against (deaths per million). Just because Sweden has done better than the US (a second world country – soon to be a third world country) when looking at deaths/million, means little; same for the UK.
As for the economic argument, that Sweden’s model would somehow bring about better economic outcomes, also appears to be false. In fact, Sweden performed poorer than its immediate and comparable neigbhours, despite having kept their economy “open”.
As to “what’s my point” and is “a lockdown the only approach”? No, a lockdown is not the only approach; but it’s an approach that when done properly (Cayman Islands; New Zealand), can work well. The point is, vaccines work. The point is that the only thing extending this pandemic are the anti-vaxxers who, for the most part, also happen to be against lockdowns.
Silly rabbit, trix are for kids. Any other questions?
“As for the economic argument, that Sweden’s model would somehow bring about better economic outcomes, also appears to be false. In fact, Sweden performed poorer than its immediate and comparable neighbors, despite having kept their economy “open”.”
If only life was so simple in that there were only two factors to consider in every situation. Sweden, a country with its own people who have its own way of doing things based on their own desires and values. Perhaps they value the economy over the live. Perhaps they value the quality of lives and freedom over all. Whatever their reason, we can learn from their choices. Genetics, geography, all factors we can use to learn from it. We can learn from the fact that they wanted to not lockdown and they didn’t have the deaths we expected them to. So I prefer to try and see why that is instead of using it as some moment to boost my fragile ego and go “HAHAHA RIGHT WING REPUBLICANS GET OWNED. SWEDEN FAILED YOUR EXPECTATIONS”, but then again I probably shouldn’t be too harsh on you since I do this sometimes so I can understand the attraction in trying to get a win every now and again.
“The point is, vaccines work. The point is that the only thing extending this pandemic are the anti-vaxxers who, for the most part, also happen to be against lockdowns.”
If you think that some people choosing not get a vaccine is somehow extending the pandemic, Its clear JGHS didn’t teach you critical thinking, but I’m more than willing to check back in a day or two to see how you tied your statement back to a logical argument because this rabbit can’t understand how someone deciding not to take a vaccine that:
a) doesn’t stop you from catching the virus
b) doesn’t prevent you from spreading the virus
c) only greatly reduces the impact of symptoms
is somehow extending the pandemic. If everyone in the world took he vaccine do you believe that the virus would someone just jump ship?
“Oh well, these humans got me, time to dip up out of here.” – COVID 2021
The mere fact that polio is still running around despite us having the vaccine for it should make it more than obvious that the virus will still be around for decades to come. The ‘pandemic’ is nothing more than governments in power placing measures on their people for a virus that has 2.0% death rate world wide. So again, how are the anti-vaxxers extending it?
Also, the “anti-vaxxers” are also against lockdowns.. does that not show they have principles? The overwhelming point that the “anti-vaxxers” try to make is that they don’t want to be demonized and insulted for making their own decisions and they do not want to be forced to take something they don’t want to. So they choose to not get the vaccine and are willing to be wrong which might result in severe suffering or death. Despite that, they say “open up, no lockdowns. Don’t impair freedom for EVERYONE, we are willing to risk our lives on it” but somehow you are still upset.
Good talking to you bruv. I’ll learn from this encounter and I hope you will too.
Be humble friend.
Welcome to 2021. Rather than do the work / research to attempt a decent response, 7:15 will label or insult.
7:15? Lol
What sort of research we talking about here genius? Boots on the ground type of research? Did you do any of that research? Are we talking about youtube conspiracy research, the type where you listen to all kinds of conspiracy nuts and loonies? What research have you done genius? Explain. Show me your research.
Not sure what exactly you still don’t understand. Don’t compare Sweden to the US, a 2nd world country. Compare it to its Scandinavian neighbours, to its nordic neighbours. In each and every case it has done worse and far worse than it’s nordic neighbours. Compare it to Canada, which is also a nordic country with similar population density. Sweden did worse against Canada as well. Compare it to Iceland. Again, worse.
So do me a favour, quit your mumbling, and unless you have anything else to add, STFU, sit down, and be humble.
Should have used the last two years to build our cruise berthing facility.
Are you a troll or a Kirkbot?
A boat captain. Guess we don’t count anymore.
Why waste money on an ecologically dead commodity?
Cayman has lead the world in reopening. Simply world class.
I thank God I live in paradise.
Haha. Assume this is sarcasm?
We can’t really afford the corruption, incompetence, profligation associated with the cost over runs/change orders of the airport ….which were all predicted well in advance by everyone with even a modicum of cop-on.
Repeating the same mistake with the port, would send the next 4 generations to penury.
STICKER ALERT / Prediction – Wait for what the schools turn out to cost over run by….for the second time, before they are finished.
I cordially invite yo to take a long walk off a short pier. “New berthing facility” 😒
Tourists aren’t coming with those restrictions. Airlines aren’t flying with those restrictions.
But they know this.
So be it!
The government knows the goal is unattainable. With a hold out of at least 20% of Caymanians that don’t believe or for whatever reason will not take the vaccine and 5% of the population below 15 years of age the best performance achievement even with Julie praying every day is 75%. Be real.
Ha, ha, ha – you don’t know Americans. They will come here packed in planes and eventually packed in cruise ships.
Just like us Caymanians will pack the planes to Miami.
Truth spoken.
I’m American and I won’t quarantine. I wouldn’t go to Walmart either.
Are they still going to use the “Verified” vaccine system that only those who got their shots on island can comply with? Are the US CDC cards good enough starting Oct 14? I’m not sure how adding flights work when tourist can’t comply.
Yes I would really like some clarity on this. Where are they at with verifying other doses in the US and Canada?
I doubt that a CDC card in and of itself will be sufficient during the early stages of reopening, and this is clearly a big problem for most US visitors (ie Cayman’s main tourist market). There have been a number of news articles in the US about fake vaccination cards which no doubt have made CIG nervous.
CIG and the HSA are aware that there are a number of Caymanians vaccinated overseas who are currently being disadvantaged in terms of quarantine because they have no access to QR codes (my own family included) and are in discussion about how to address that.
Hopefully the two go hand in hand.
Government needs to clarify the so called verification. CVS IS NOT providing smart cards for covid vaccine. only the handwritten cards
The info below regarding verifiable vaccines is from the Compass. CIG will not accept the US CDC cards come October, the details of the reopening plan have not changed thus securely verifiable digital vaccine proof will be required to avoid quarantine.
I was in CVS in Austin, TX last week, I asked the people giving vaccines if they were recording the vaccine with SMART Health, they didn’t even know what it was so I’m not sure if CVS in this area is even part of the SMART Health system.
Vaccine Proof accepted by Cayman Islands: https://www.caymancompass.com/2021/08/25/new-york-excelsior-pass-added-to-caymans-verifiable-vaccine-list/
Vaccination records issued by the Cayman Islands Health Services Authority;
United Kingdom National Health Service certificates with embedded secure features or those retrieved from the NHS mobile app or website which provides a QR code;
SMART Health Cards from issuers that are a part of the CommonTrust Network. This includes North American issuers, such as:
Walmart Pharmacy
Sam’s Club Pharmacy
State of California
State of Louisiana
UC San Diego Health
CVS Health
UC Health
Vaccination records from the European Union Member States and other countries that meet the EU Digital COVID Certificate standard;
Vaccination records from Barbados Ministry of Health and Wellness.
8:03pm, It is not just Austin CVS that’s unaware. I’ve inquired in my local CVS in Houston as well as via their national phone number.
I can see my vaccine history in the CVS app but there is not a QR code. I emailed CVS yesterday requesting a QR code be emailed to me or added as part of record in the app. I’ve gotten a reply saying where to find this QR code but haven’t been able to access that part of the website got some reason.
Try emailing them at customercare@cvs.com so they know that there is a huge demand for a readily available QR code.
SMART Health is not even fully rolled-out yet.
I called my board of health as my state does not do digital verification. They said it may never happen. So, what happens now? I have been flying to Cayman over 25 years, 2-3 x a year….vaccinated fully since February. My family is fully vaccinated.
No flights, no vaccine.
How is the CDC vaccination card going to be verifiable when no system is available yet? If quarantine is left in place- people will continue to travel elsewhere.
Got 14 days off at Christmas. My family of 4 will either be spending it in Cayman like we have in the past or on some other island. All vaccinated. Will our CDC card be accepted? Need to know very soon as plans will have to be solidly booked soon.
In a similar boat as a Caymanian family wanting to come home for the holidays – my kids only get 2 weeks off school and it would be counterproductive to spend most of that stuck indoors unable to see anyone (especially when their school requires quarantine after international travel so we couldn’t even come for the full 2 weeks).
See my post at 7.02pm above.
Did the US just put in that all people flying starting in October must be vaccinated? Heard something about that today.
Immigrants and refugees. Not visitors/non-immigrant visa holders as yet.
No, not in the US. Canada made that announcement.
Yes, get ready. It’s in the works.
A few weeks ago they announced they might start requiring FOREIGN VISITORS entering the US to be fully vaccinated. Haven’t seen an official decision on that or a start date.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/exclusive-us-developing-plan-require-foreign-visitors-be-vaccinated-official-2021-08-04/
Remember we have to protect CAl repatriation fares for as long as we can or we will have to pay it anyway in losses. Ask AA and others to offer $200.00 round fares to Miami for vaccinated visitors spending 7-9 days and see the real story
That makes no sense. Commercial flights are starting on 9 September – you need to get vaccinated now to be protected and still won’t have the full,vaccine effects in time if you have left it this late. No longer repatriation flights only from September 9, then from October 14 no quarantine for tourists arriving, so you’d be an idiot to wait for a flight you can book to get vaccinated. Also if you’re not vaccinated you won’t be able to enter any countries on a flight anyway most likely.
Commercial flights are not starting on September 9th. No airlines will come. They have to say this to satisfy the terms of the Open Skies agreement. Pull your head out of your ass.
Anyone can fly on the BA flights in September, no longer repatriation or a need to show essential travel. That is a commercial flight. And they will be full. Similarly there will be full Miami flights on CAL for anyone who wants to go and come in.
Soooo what about children under 12 who are still not cleared for taking the vaccine.
Are we okay with our children getting sick. I am fine with reopening but i feel strongly that the 5-day quarantine and testing should still be mandatory.
you can still get the virus even with full vaccination as the effectiveness wears off the more time passes. So even the elderly will still be most vulnerable. The vaccine also doesn’t protect against Delta or stop reinfection.
Government is just short of saying they know we will go under lockdown again with the opening.
We enjoy not wearing masks now and no social distancing and we will now have to do this again if they open the border… Worst we know the vaccine is not a long-term solution against the virus.
12 year old kids are largely asymptomatic. At worst it is a sniffle for a few days. Healthy kids have less than 1 in 1 million risk of death.
What about fat, pre-diabetic kids like the ones we have here?
This changed with the Delta variant. Kids are now also very much at risk and are dying in higher numbers
Please. At least add a reference to that hysteria. I personally know more kids with the delta variant than I can count on two hands. Sniffles, maybe a headache – less than a typical cold. And 5 days – they aren’t testing positive.
Nope
They are certainly experiencing more symptomatic infection than was the case with earlier variants but the numbers being hospitalized in the US are still low as a proportion of the numbers of infections (which are massive).
CIG needs to have clear policies in place for when the schools reopen, including the circumstances in which someone is considered a close contact, masks and social distancing in high traffic indoor areas of the school, and contact tracing.
The schools should also offer some kind of virtual system, even if it’s just allowing kids at home to see and hear their teachers. If we assume something similar to CDC guidelines, the period of exclusion from school can be 7-10 days.
The education department has had 18 months to make sure all its students have access to the required technology at home…where did it get to with that?
Meh, That is not what the pediatricians and other doctors have been saying in Florida the past month.
Numbers of kids being hospitalized the past month in Florida is skyrocketing.
Have you not been watching international news? Children are getting very sick from the Delta Variant.
Not any more
https://www.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/children-and-covid-19-state-level-data-report?ftag=MSF0951a18
Do you quarantine when you travel to the States? NO. Then tourists who are vaccinated should not need to quarantine when traveling to the island.
No need for a lockdown if the vaccination rate is high enough and masks are worn in high traffic area. Keep social distance- no need to be sitting on top of everyone anyhow- and wash your hands (general hygiene). Covid isn’t leaving.
This is not the US. This is the Cayman Islands.
This is not the US. This is the Cayman Islands.
True but the point is that if Caymanians are not afraid to walk around in the US, we shouldn’t be afraid of people from the US walking around here. Chances of infection in both scenarios.
Bingo!
You all think opening the borders is going to be the end of the world. You’ve been traveling to and from for months! There is no difference between a resident, an expat or a tourist coming and going, the exposure is the same. Covid doesn’t avoid residents. Get a grip.
Then, make sure to get your vaccination!
Has anyone from here, who has traveled abroad, been hospitalized or died of Covid?
Yes, I traveled, had COVID, died, and went to heaven.
An amazing trip.
In children, at least, the risk of serious consequences for COVID is about the same as the risk they face from the flu
https://www.npr.org/2021/05/21/999241558/in-kids-the-risk-of-covid-19-and-the-flu-are-similar-but-the-risk-perception-isn
This is outdated. Look into the delta variant.
Children are more at risk on these roads but we still drive with them in the car.
Guess you don’t have kids or you don’t love them much. Your laissez faire comment feels very abrasive.
What about being molested or enslaved? 6:45 was merely stating the sad reality of Cayman!
With many kids in the community not wearing seatbelts, sitting on parents knees and jumping around untethered.
But you can’t fix stupid.
Same unvaccinated ones.
That’s right, keep pushing the division you moron.
Am I wrong though?
Nope
In light of the new figures coming out regarding the transmission rate of the Delta variant, Panton and his minions are dangerously irresponsible if they open the borders and lift the 5-day quarantine mandate and testing without instituting serious measures to reduce the transmission of Covid.
Like those refusing to get vaccinated? You realize COVID is coming regardless and this ends with either getting vaccinated or getting COVID. You pick……..
Ridiculous. The measures are there. Get your vaccine. Wear a mask in high traffic areas. Social distance. Stay home when feeling sick. Wash your hands. Nothing else needs to be put in place. Those are the guidelines the world is following. Stop your panic. The bubble must open.
The Delta variant is mostly high in areas where the unvaccinated rate is the highest. In areas where highly vaccinated, Delta variant is low. Go figure.
Re Delta, why isn’t India in the news anymore? Why isn’t the UK in the news anymore? Watch, in 10 days, Florida won’t be either. Nothing against the press. The answer has to do with how long Delta seems to last. UK and India 45 days. Florida, 40 days. So even if it gets here, it’s not Armageddon, at least for the vaccinated.
Like them or not the previous government made some tough decisions to give us the freedoms we now take for granted.
This bunch of grandstanding amateurs are going to get us back into community spread and lockdown….all for the sake of their political ambitions.
Get vaccinated and fight COVID rather than your neighbor.
Children must I repeat must get sick to build up immunity to viruses. The only virus eliminated is smallpox and that’s only of of thousands. Vaccines alone will not solve the problem. We should have kept schools open, let kids get sick last year when this first occurred. Now the virus is mutating and the chance of other illnesses such as rsv are much greater. When will we learn you can’t stop nature!
No mention of how the unvaccinated kids will be protected in schools.
Kids doing fine in the UK and Bermuda.
…what about those who are too young and have compromised conditions – are you willing to sacrifce them?
How are the grandparents doing?
But not doing well in Florida.
Send your kid to school with a mask if you are concerned.
Where did I say I had kids? Just another typical assumption made to support your weak argument.
Then why was a ‘bubble’ system introduced in schools to contain covid and now abandoned?
A study showed that the paper masks most use are only 10% effective. Interesting how that study hasn’t been widely circulated. More government miss information
That was an interesting study but had a small sample size. KN95 masks are widely available in the US and what I send my kids to school with. I believe they were around 50% effective in that same study.
Best way to protect the kids (mine included) is for everyone in their lives to be vaccinated. My family is, all my coworkers are and I wish there was a law that said all teachers must have it as well.
Everyone go get the damn shot if not for yourself then for those who can’t take it. Kids…people with allergy to the shot etc. if they catch this disease it’s more than likely going to be through you.
Same way they are everywhere else. All adults being vaccinated and wearing masks
So they know we are going back into lock down, but going ahead anyway.great.
Why is lockdown needed? Those who contract covid quarantine, the rest continue on. Simple. People around the world have been working with covid for more than a year. It is possible to do. Get your vaccine.
What about those who are too young (younger that 12 Y.O.)
to get vaccinated and have a compromised condition e.g. special needs. Parent of these children will be in dread to night…..
Very easy for you to say “get your vaccine” – one size does not fit all and don’t get me wrong I am fully in favour and have my double jab.
I work at a special Ed school. We were open all thru the pandemic. Those that could wear masks, did. Adults got vaccinated when that came along. Very few Covid cases, but those that did get Covid were quarantined and so were any close contacts. The rest continued with their daily schedule. No masks outdoors.