Sick seaman negative for COVID-19
(CNS): Officials have confirmed that a merchant seaman who was taken off a foreign vessel in Cayman waters at the weekend was negative for the coronavirus. The crew member was admitted to the Cayman Islands Hospital as he was exhibiting possible COVID-19 symptoms. In a short release about the decision to take the patient, Premier Wayne Panton said, “In the tradition of a nation built on seafaring, it only seems the right thing to do to assist where we can.”
Before the man had been tested for the virus and when his status was still unknown, Panton warned that the possible introduction of COVID to the Cayman community would increase in any event as border restrictions lessen, reminding those who have not been vaccination to do so as soon as possible.
Health Minister Sabrina Turner had said that the Health Services Authority was equipped to deal with the logistics of receiving the patient in complete safety, and protocols were engaged as though the patient had COVID-19. “Our hospitals have been successfully dealing with COVID patients since last year and I am certain this person will receive quality care here.”
The man has since been discharged from the hospital but he is still in isolation at a government quarantine facility. The Public Health Department determined that there is no threat to public health.
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Category: Health, Medical Health
Sick seamen are normally taken to the nearest place where there is treatment available. The Maritime Labor Convention, which applies to Cayman, requires port states to permit this. Thus, this was a legal obligation, not charity.
This is not about doing what is right …. it’s about fulfilling obligations… the Premier could have said that, plain and simple.
Seafarers are humans, no hospitals out there!
There are boats arriving in North Sound Estates every 2-3 weeks from Central America with between 3 to 6 fishermen on board each time. They get off the boat and are seen walking around the streets in their bare feet. The speak no English. They hang around the dock and house for 2 weeks and then get back on the fishing boat and head back. Two weeks later an new group arrive. There is NO Quarantine for them. Someone explain how this can continue to happen every month if there is such a great threat of COVID!
Have you reported it to the police? No point moaning about it here. Report it immediately to the proper authorities with proof such as photographs, if you want it dealt with.
Probably because you haven’t reported it to the authorities, you just comment on marl road, if it’s even true 🙄
It was reported and the police have been there multiple times along with people in full hazmat attire. Nothing has changed and thy keep coming in the dark of night and disappearing all over the island during the daylight hours.
Who owns the property?
There is quarantine for them – stop lying!
Our first case, which didn’t result in any community transmission? That one?
You realize that once the borders are open, we will have no shortage of cases irrespective of whether they got off a flight from Miami or a cruise ship? We need to be bale to ensure we can isolate and treat them effectively, and for that we need the general public’s resistance to infection and its vulnerability once infected to be be way. way lower – which brings us back to vaccination.
Once cruise ships are back in action even if Cayman is closed to them, are we going to offer open house to any Covid patient on a passing ship?. This seems imprudent after our first case was “imported”.
We are a seafaring nation. Not for a moment would we turn our back on those in peril on the seas, seeking our assistance. It is disgusting to suggest we would should (or would) behave otherwise.
Unless they are Cubans in a raft.
Cubans on rafts are mostly economic migrants…..
nothing much to do with seafarers that are legally working on the world seas.
Don’t mix the 2, please
95% of what we consume globally are moved by ships.
Ships that require seafarers.
You’re funny
He’s not funny, he’s speaking the truth.
The difference between first case and future cases is that there are now protocols in place.
All future potential cases will be treated as positive until tests prove otherwise whereas no preventative measures where taken in that first case (a cardiac patient that was also Covid positive).