Opposition calls for COVID council
(CNS): Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart has called on the government to form a National COVID-19 Emergency Council of all elected members, saying the opposition stood ready to help and had considerable experience dealing with the pandemic. In a letter to Premier Wayne Panton yesterday afternoon, McTaggart called on him to implement various measures that PACT had already decided on and announced yesterday afternoon, including the postponement of the phased border reopening.
“We have considerable experience that would be extremely useful to the country,” the opposition leader said, as he asked the government to establish a council. He said COVID-19 continues to be an issue of national importance and the opposition has a duty to support and assist the government in matters such as this as well as holding government accountable.
“We in the opposition stand ready to assist the government. We have considerable first-hand experience based on our fight with COVID-19 for more than a year,” McTaggart said before asking for mask mandates, testing of all front-line workers, a return to two-week quarantine for everyone as well as the reintroduction of geo-tags.
McTaggart expressed his concern that a strict lockdown that might follow if the border closure wasn’t cancelled, which would be worse than keeping the borders closed, despite the adverse affect on the tourism sector.
“We certainly understand very well the negative impact to tourism by remaining closed. But given the changed circumstances, not only do we need to give ourselves the best chance of having a successful reopening, but we also need to ensure that our processes and people are prepared and as safe as we can make them. We do not need to reopen only to close down again,” McTaggart said, as he offered an olive branch to the government.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Category: Politics
Meantime in other news:
Earlier in the month, the state of Alaska made an emergency request for over 470 out-of-state medical personnel, including for nurses and respiratory therapists.
There remains no guarantee that the personnel request will be completely filled as has been seen in other states. Hospitals are “anxiously awaiting” to see how many people will come, when they’ll arrive and for how long
…”
Are Cayman hospitals ready???
can the incease of stipend help us pls @roy @panton
I want free money!!!!
The only reason we know covid is here is because of the PCR tests. The lady who was admitted to hospital was admitted for other reasons. Let’s stop it with the fear and admit some real science in this debate
Age Infection Survival Rate
0-19 99.9973%
20-29 99.986%
30-39 99.969%
40-49 99.918%
50-59 99.73%
60-69 99.41%
70+ 97.6% (non-inst.)
70+ 94.5% (all)
Source Infection fatality rate of COVID-19 in community-dwelling populations with emphasis on the elderly: An overview, published in MedRXiv.
Enough fear.
True opposition is supposed to OPPOSE government. Here, we have a government that wants to delay opening borders, and an opposition that want to close the borders.
Where is the real opposition?
So first thing I think is ‘How are PPM members going to get $$ out of this?’
Bio buttons?
The only thing that PACT and the Opposition have agreed on so far, is their pay rise, which was unanimous.
DISGUSTING!!! Greedy hogs! Shame, shame, shame!
Seriously? What an a$$
You should shake hands, you’re both from the same cloth.
Woke, sll about optics, and zero spine.
Roy McTaggart….The Cayman version of Sleepy Joe Biden. Suppose it’s better then being a Trumper.
Trump is an honest man……, when compared to Biden!
Did the PPM and former Premier Alden McLaughlin consult or include the Opposition in anything? Did they form any council or advisory body that included the opposition?
The hypocrisy and whining by that lot is mind blowing. SMH
The PPM believes it acquired the right to rule Cayman and is running a court-in-exile of fevered brows and schemes. The way it does government will always leave the people out and see the rich and powerful flourish ever more. That bunch will never be good for Cayman again. Power corrupted them absolutely and you can see they still crave it like Bilbo wanted to see his ring one last time. It is mind blowing. Let’s just remember never to trust them with power again. Their contempt for us will increase 10x and they will make us pay for being dumb enough to trust them.
People are really suffering with the Covid restrictions. Government shuts borders over some runny noses. People tend to look down on a country that reacts off fear not actual science. I’m so sad for all my friends who haven’t been able to afford to go home and see their families in almost 2 years. Another missed Christmas over some runny noses. Only the rich can travel. I wish the government would stop refusing to educate their people on the true risk of serious Covid or death. 99% will be ok.
I say, Anonymous 9:39 am, Are you aware that thousands and thousands of people have died from this virus? They were not O.K.
thousands and thousands (and millions) died from influenza/flu every year. I say died because in 2020 apparently none did.
CNS: According to the WHO, there are between 290,000 and 650,000 influenza-related respiratory deaths
worldwide each year. According to John Hopkins, over the last 18 months there have been about 4,67 million covid-related deaths.
Sure they have. If you get your news from MSM, we put people on the moon as well….in a refrigerator!
this government ain’t nothing but smoke and mirrors..
I’m totally confused with all of this. What was the vision of the opening in October? Community spread was going to happen, but it just happened a couple of weeks earlier than anticipated. Did they think the Delta variant would be gone by then or something? This seems like a mismanaged knee-jerk reaction to everything.
They did not realize they would lose control. They thought it would come but they would manage it. However, Delta does not play by anyone’s rules. It does what it wants when it wants and to who it wants.
What is it that Mike Tyson said. “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth”. This was their punch in the mouth.
The government is fast realizing that they are dealing with an immature public who are not prepared to deal with COVID. Hopefully they will use the additional time they have bought themselves to improve the maturity level of the public.
The problem isn’t just immaturity- it’s also ignorance, arrogance and selfishness.Many of our residents are irredeemable sociopaths.
Jeez. Roy. Give it a rest. Lost in the election but now wants to try and run the country through an all party committee. Isn’t that just an attempt to gain control by the back door ? We’ll soon get to point where no one will listen to him, even if what he says is right. Or has that point already been reached ? So Roy either help or shut it.
Stop playing politics and open the border NOW!
https://caymannewsservice.com/2021/09/opposition-blames-5-day-quarantine-for-covid-leaks/#comments
And this was the same Roy the day before..Can anyone believe that he really wants to help?..He is nothing more than like one of them damn oversized mosquitoes that we have here, annoying and biting at you every chance he gets.
How the hell does he criticize and blame the government one day and they next want them to form a council to include himself. You can’t make this crap up!
I don’t remember him or Alden wanting to start a council with the Opposition when they were in power.
Roy, please stop the rattling, no one really cares anymore about the PPM. You are a bunch of washed up sore losers.
If you and your cronies really wanted to help you would be up and down with this foolishness criticizing every time some incident pops up. You are not trying to do anything good for Cayman. You all miss your power and the gravy train..Go pick mangos with Alden and try find something constructive to do.
SHAZAM !!!!!!
Where in the World is Carmen Chris Saunders? Oh yes down at Macs
Covid-19 is out in the world. Like influenza and the common cold it will not be eradicated for many years if ever. So unless you are prepared to totally isolate Cayman for that time there is no doubt it will get here. Are you prepared to live your life in fear and a mask? Never to have close social contact? Just wondering. The best we can do is to mitigate its effects with a vaccine. Burying our heads in the sand only delays the inevitable.
Having to wear a mask and avoid close contact are exactly what will happen if we reopen. So the best thing, it seems, if we want to be free from masks and enjoy close contact while COVID is still so prevalent is to stay shut…
Alldone is written all over this.
Covid council? Let’s face facts … Covid here to stay … but Cayman 12-18 months behind the curve. Learn to live with it or die as a community. It’s a horrible disease – horrendous…..but like flu there is no escaping it. What price ignoring it?
“We have considerable first-hand experience” of closing the borders and sitting back and taking our full salary!!!!
don’t forget the alden refused a pay cut for him and his cronies and instead voted for a salary increase for when the y got re-elected, then they had the nerve to blame the PACT government for it. If they had gotten the government they would not have said a word.
Why didn’t they set one up when in government then?
Maybe they had so many “deals” lined up that they didn’t need them….. ?
Old Roy how can you live with yourself.
All you are doing is being a mouth peace for Alden.
Can you just imagine the arrogant Alden approaching the opposition.
Did he do that when PM no.
So just shut the F%%k up
Yes this is a great idea – have Jon-Jon run it and everything will be alright! Roy is such a smart guy!
Kudos to the former government for having the nerve to lock down the island while a vaccine was discovered. Since then they have been playing the same tune that we all know. What they couldn’t figure out was how to get their constituents to take a vaccine or stay away from infected travelers. Leadership is different than authoritarianism.
Anyone could wipe out Covid by locking down a tiny island and closing the border for over a year. Stop acting like that is a unique skill. We all know this playbook. Staying open, getting people vaccinated, and not slamming the hospitals is a real skill.
Covid 19 Council
There’s no need for a council.
All the facts, stats and everything else we need have been available. All we need now is someone like Renato Adams to be given a contract to enforce the Govt Covid Protocols. Let’s see how many Domino playing parties in quarantined patios will be going on then. He’s already had Covid himself and the amount of gun running canoes coming into the east and bodden town will drop to zero once they know he’s on the prowl.
Highly doubt it’s the canoes, but know you all don’t like to blame yourselves for anything. Covid has been on island, but people thought they were so protected because of all this covid free crap for so long. People been having colds, allergies, sinus infections for months, but never got tested. There is your covid being spread. Covid came to fruition because of the elderly woman who went to the hospital for another reason and got tested. The test came back positive. Contract testing was done and Then more covid shows up. People hear the news and start thinking that maybe their cold, allergies, sinus infection may covid. Next person gets tested. Positive covid. More contract testing…..and the cycle begins.
Contact testing.
Roy your experience is from 2020…..we are in 2021 and it’s time to move on.
Unless everyone in government leaves the island and see’s the real world than then we have no hope.
You all need to get out of your bubble and open your eyes.
Please stop trying to shame and bring each other down. Its common practice here and frankly it stinks
Didn’t Roy start the whiny politics on this topic?
I have to say Roy has some balls. How does he get up on his soapbox one day and complan and beat up on the PACT Government and then the next day want to be part of a government special council?
The PPM have consistently proven that they want to be a thorn in the present Government’s ass. Why the hell would this government want to trust to have the PPM seated at the table with them when historically since the election they have tried everything under the sun to undermine the PACT Government.
This is nothing more than the same old PPM tactics to try to keep themselves relevant and to be disruptive because they didn’t win the last election.
Roy has allowed Alden to drag him down to the same level. My respect for him continues to fall. He had so much promise.
You only get “considerable first-hand experience” after you successfully treated hundreds covid patients in local hospitals. Everything else is just giving orders-that is easy.
Besides, Mr.McTaggard still believes that Covid-19 could be eradicated, therefore his proposed Emergency Council would just continue on the same wrong path-issuing orders, restrictions, contacts chasing, closing schools, offices etc. wasting more millions.
He can at least teach Saunders that the $300M is intended for COVID emergency , not for PACT’s personal popularity giveaways.
Isn’t it kind of late? 18 month late to be exact.
Another bright idea from MacTagAlong