Two COVID community cases now confirmed

| 09/09/2021 | 137 Comments
Cayman News Service
Press briefing on Thursday (L-R) Health Minister Sabrina Turner, Premier Wayne Panton, Governor Martyn roper and Education Minister Juliana O’Connor-Connolly

(CNS): Public health officials are tracing and testing dozens of people after two positive cases of COVID-19 were confirmed today by the Health Services Authority. Twenty-four other people connected to the two patients have been tested already, including two Clifton Hunter students, none of whom were positive, Chief Medical Officer Dr John Lee said at Thursday’s press briefing. An investigation is underway into how these two people were infected as neither has a travel history, he said.

Both patients were fully vaccinated. One of them, a woman in her 70s, is in hospital but doing well and the second patient is a younger male family member who is symptomatic but remains isolating at home.

All of the contacts of the two patients are now under 14-day quarantine, including the two students, who will switch to online learning. Officials said there was no risk to other students from these two young people and the school will be open tomorrow as usual.

Dr Lee said that a number of front-line workers have also been quarantined in government accommodation as they were not aware the patient was potentially infected with the coronavirus when she was brought to hospital as she did not present with respiratory problems.

Going forward, however, the protocols dealing with all patients are likely to be stepped up because if COVID-19 has leaked into the community, all emergency personnel and healthcare workers must be protected to ensure that staffing levels can be managed, Dr Lee said.

Given that the virus could now be spreading, the chief medical officer confirmed that public health is looking at the provision of lateral flow tests that people can use for home testing. He said the ministry was hoping to source from the UK an easy test, at the right price, that anyone can use.

As a significant number of people in Cayman are vaccinated, the virus could have been and could continue to be spreading but it is not until someone becomes ill that this becomes known so testing can go a long way to reassuring the public. At the moment, however, PCR testing is still limited to travellers and front-line workers. Therefore, the need for home testing so parents can be reassured they are not infecting their children has now increased.

Premier Wayne Panton said that this community transmission makes the decision about the phased border reopening next month much more difficult. But he said it was to be expected, as the risk was always going to increase in the face of any plan by any government to reopen.

He asked people to behave with caution over the next 24 hours and to stay home, or at least to wear masks and practice social distancing until the investigation into how these two people became infected completed. He said there will be another press briefing tomorrow to update the public on more details.

Meanwhile, all government officials said that they were not surprised this had happened. But as Cayman has gone for so long without a case of the virus leaking into the community, people have become extremely lax about COVID protocols, and they all urged people to return to the trusted behaviours that has kept them safe until now.

HSA CEO Lizzette Yearwood reassured the community that the hospital was more than ready to deal with a return of the virus and that it was well stocked with the necessary treatments and well equipped.

But prevention is far better than cure, and government officials urged people to get vaccinated, a message which seems to have resonated in recent days as there has been an increase in the uptake of the vaccination.

The daily average has increased this week up to around 130 people per day compared to a just a few dozen this time last month. Today’s news also seems to have a had a significant and immediate impact as Health Minister Sabrina Turner noted that the West Bay vaccination clinic had seen a significant number of people turn up for their first dose this evening.

See the full press briefing on CIGTV below.


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Category: Health, Medical Health

Comments (137)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Great news out of Israel today.

    “the New England Journal of Medicine will publish Israeli data showing that a booster shot of Pfizer’s vaccine dramatically decreased severe Covid-19, Dr. Nachman Ash, director general of the Israeli Ministry of Health, told CNN.”

    “It found that 12 days or more after the booster was given, the relative risk of severe illness decreased more than ten times and the relative risk of confirmed infection decreased more than 11 times.”

  2. Anonymous says:

    Today US officials announced that a pediatric version of the Pfizer vaccine for 5 – 11 year olds should be authorized by the end of October. It would be great if our children could be vaccinated before quarantine ends and Covid floods in.

  3. Anonymous says:

    CNS: PLease ask PACT when the people were vaccinated.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Hmmmmm……🤔
    the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention modifying its definition of the words “vaccine” and “vaccination” on its website. XXXX

    CNS: Miami Herald – Why did CDC change its definition for ‘vaccine’? Agency explains move as skeptics lurk
    The bit I deleted is all in the MH link.

  5. Sheriff says:

    The panic level is insane.

    The idea that Covid would never enter Cayman is equally insane.

  6. Anonymous says:

    Update from Bermuda this morning, see link below (same population size as Cayman, almost same vaccination rate, and similar workforce, financial services and tourism).

    Bermuda has no quarantine requirement for vaxxed, but are tested on Day 1, 4 and 10. Unvaxxed 14 day quarantine. Masks required in school and indoor groups. Limits on group size.

    “More than 500 Covid cases, 20 in hospital and five in ICU”

    https://www.royalgazette.com/health/news/article/20210910/more-than-500-covid-cases-20-in-hospital-and-five-in-icu/

  7. Kevin says:

    Important questions not being answered.

    1. What version of Covid were these two infections?
    2. What do we know about their movement history?
    3. If they at any point entered major facilities like Fosters, Hurley’s etc will the public be informed so we can know whether we should get a PCR test done?

    Listen, we need help the government on this. If we were in the building of say Fosters during the time of the infected person we need to know because we could be infecting others.

    I understand you have track and trace but if this is Delta it can move faster than you can track and trace. Each infected person with Delta on average infects 8 or 9 others. And then those 8 or 9 others. This can mushroom quite quickly.

    Just saying. This is no time for kids gloves. This is all hands on deck and next man up time.

    • Anonymous says:

      1. Version 2.0
      2. Mostly in the morning after coffee
      3. You can get a PCR test done anytime if you are concerned

  8. Anonymous says:

    It was announced today that Pfizer/Biontech has a vaccine for 5 – 11 year olds and is applying for regulatory approval. For the sake of the children should we not wait a few more weeks so that they can be vaccinated before PACT lets the Corona virus loose on our islands?

    • Anonymous says:

      Human error fueled by complacency and sloppiness all over the place.

      Now we have three cases (at least so far identified officially) that might possibly have seeped into the community.

      Emergency and medical services actually thought originally that the hospitalised woman had not had contact as she had not travelled but the grape vine is saying that the second person was her helper who had just arrived from Jamaica, although I now see that the second identified person was obviously not a helper. I hope that they will get to the bottom of this and explain the circumstances.

      Also, I thought the Minister of Health was a little off kilter in her remarks yesterday. All of us know that mask-wearing has mostly long been abandoned outside of medical facilities.

      She failed to give proper context that while the community was enjoying the “bubble” effect, they needed to remember that restrictions still apply and we can all see now the necessity to resume all the relevant precautions.

      Also, while I agree is that mask-wearing should now resume and should now be enforced I didn’t hear any mention of giving a supply to bus and taxi drivers. Perhaps that should be considered?

      • Anonymous says:

        …thatnk God we are not relying on the health minister…thank God we have Dr/Lee.

        Our past and present Minister for Health were/are not up to the job…

        • Anonymous says:

          But Minister Turner was actually a nurse as apposed to the last donkey who has health issues.

          • Anonymous says:

            4:49 pm: the whole cabinet is showing their inexperience—except Julianna. We have put the serious affairs of state into the hands of novices.

      • Anonymous says:

        The woman on the Jamaica flight is NOT a community transmission. Everyone on the plane was required to go into quarantine regardless of what was on this woman’s paper.

        About 2% of people are testing positive for Covid at the end of quarantine, which means most flights likely have a positive person or two on it.

        She is a traveler positive.

        • Anonymous says:

          Yes. But the people on the plane do not have transmissible Covid because they have just had a NEGATIVE PCR. Big difference.

      • Anonymous says:

        Re 9:51 am post: on a point of clarification: I meant mask-wearing on buses—I agree that should resume and be enforced. I did not mean to suggest general mask wearing.

    • Anonymous says:

      Application for regulatory approval is just the start of the process. Further data will still need to be gathered while the application is in process. The FDA has requested 6 months of follow-up data.

      Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former FDA commissioner who is on the board of Pfizer, suggests “early to mid-winter” is when we might expect initial dosing for children in the US.

      Why does it take so long? Children are going to get a lower dose as they have immature, developing immune systems. Too strong a dose and the side effects might be greater than the benefits. Too weak and might not get enough of a immune response.

      It is known that in adolescents (particularly males), there has been a rare risk of heart inflammation (myocarditis). This is why the UK is only providing the vaccine to vulnerable 12 to 17 year olds.

      The trials on children have only been in a few thousand across age groups. The FDA is trying to tease out of the data what the risk is when given to millions of children. If there is a 2 in 5,000 risk of serious side effects from the vaccine versus a 1 in 5,000 risk of a bad outcome from COVID, then the vaccine might only be indicated for certain children.

    • Anonymous says:

      Any science to demonstrate that children at that age are more at risk from Covid compared to the flu?

    • Anonymous says:

      Can you guarantee that if we wait the kids will take the vaccine? Maybe you can guarantee just for your kids but not for all.

    • Yawn says:

      That age group has a survival rate of 999,999 for every 1,000,000. So cut the melodrama.

  9. Cay Kai Jalisco says:

    Only 2 please don’t make me laugh! You all better get up to Northside and start doing some serious testing including locations like Chisholm store and that bar inside Hutland and some of these relatives of the MP who are running around this community untested after being in close contact with these people. Before this spread up here like wildfire! PACT please get a grip of this situation now and stop behaving like Prima Donna’s blaming people for unnnah opening foolishness . This situation is a direct result of your opening up plan without Proper quarantine mandates and rules catering to the stupid who believe they are going to defy this pandemic by listening to the Great white Hope who want their little inconveniences removed so they continue with their Soap Opera lifestyles,

  10. Anonymous says:

    Regarding the Covid positive infected passengers allowed to board the CA flight from Jamaica, we know that the PCR tests of all those on board is worthless as they will all have been exposed to the infected passenger. Will the other vaccinated passengers be required to quarantine for more than 5 days given that the incubation period of the virus is 14 days from exposure? If not why not.

    • Anonymous says:

      Every flight likely has a positive or two on it. Otherwise, no one would test positive at the end of quarantine.

      • Anonymous says:

        And you all were comfortable traveling all year long back and forth to Walmart and Miami to party. What is so different with this one? Someone made a mistake or overlooked her results? Every flight has had covid on it, you just weren’t aware until they were in quarantine.
        Learn to live your live coexisting with covid. Stop the panic. The people on the plane were social distanced and had masks on.

  11. Anonymous says:

    These 2 people are vaccinated so will be fine. Also the one in hospital went to hospital for something non covid related as I understand from what dr Lee said, so isn’t hospitalized due to covid.

    Why such a massive reaction of fear in cayman? We were never going to keep covid out with or without border opening, it’s impossible to have a zero covid policy forever. We have the vaccines which will protect us from serious illness and death so let’s just keep the October 14 plan and live with the virus like every other country has been doing for ages.

    Better to start now and get some immunity in the community rather than keep this ridiculous border lockdown and then deal with worse mutations in future years.

    Also it’s clear we have enough healthcare capacity to treat any unvaccinated people who fit some stupid reason refused a shot.

    Lastly, the uk yesterday approved boosters and said they give a great increase in protection so likely we can all have a booster soon too.

    We have a high vaccination rate, the vaccines work against delta, so what is the big concern?

    • Anonymous says:

      No one ever thinks of the children. Can we please just wait a little while longer until they are able to be vaccinated? If we have community spread, it GREATLY affects their lives, from mask-wearing and distancing at school to cancellation of sports and after-school programs, in addition to possible school closures and remote learning.

      • Anonymous says:

        AMEN!

      • Anonymous says:

        ….not to mention children with special needs….await the pfizer vaccine for children….then look to open up.

        • Anonymous says:

          I teach at a special ed school which has been open (in person) all thru the pandemic. There is no need for a lockdown. We have not locked down once and we are in a high risk state. If someone tests positive, they go out and the rest continue to receive their education. Stay calm.

          • Anonymous says:

            I call bullshit. My child, who has special needs, had to navigate remote learning throughout lockdown last year. There were no in-person accommodations made for him by anyone. It was early days, and we were all doing the best we knew how, but it is false to state that kids with special needs were offered accommodations by schools or special needs programs. Maybe you would like to tell us the name of your school?

            • Anonymous says:

              I teach in the US. If you could pm me I would tell you my school, but I am not announcing it on a public forum. Hopefully, I will be visiting Cayman soon (without quarantine) and would gladly show you my credentials and our school covid plan.

              • Anonymous says:

                My mistake. I did not realize that you were in the USA.

                • Anonymous says:

                  No problem- would definitely show you our Covid plan as it really has worked, but don’t know how to do it on an open forum. Really it has been just following: all that can be vaccinated are, all that can wear masks do( staff and the students who can), desks where possible social distanced, safety gear (Ppe)when needed, hand hygiene. Btw- there are clear masks you can get to help w/ non verbal students. Social stories, lots of outdoor activities. Masks do not have to be worn outdoors here.

                • Anonymous says:

                  Our Covid plan also only takes out the person w/ Covid and if their was a close contact ( maybe their 1-1), but the rest of students and staff continue on with their education. We have become very good at keeping apart so everyone does not have to quarantine. Our students ride on single buses ( always have) so maybe bus driver or monitor may have to quarantine, or just take a test and short time quarantine. There are different rules for different contact levels.Hope that gives you some insight. Once the staff got vaccinated, I do not believe we have had Covid at the school. Before that, we had quite a few cases, but very few students- mostly staff and none in our autistic population.

      • Anonymous says:

        How can you ask everyone to wait when you cannot guarantee the kids will take the vaccine?

      • Anonymous says:

        Wait for what? Halloween? Christmas? 2022? Covid still here. Open the border. Waiting doesn’t make sense. Waited a year longer than the rest of the world. Covid still here.

    • Anonymous says:

      My concern is uneducated people like you.

  12. Anonymous says:

    PACT made a lot of the economic cost of not dropping quarantine. It would be interesting to know the cost of the response to just these 2 cases. Then we can multiply that economic cost by the hundreds/thousands likely to be infected if quarantine is dropped. That would be a start at a comparison of the costs of keeping quarantine versus the cost of dropping quarantine. Probably too much math though.

  13. Anonymous says:

    let this incident be a wake up call to the Premier and Government concerning the opening up of all borders on the 14th October. This reckless decision will return us back 18 months to more infections than ever before because as in this case the vaccinated can be infected carriers and spreader of the virus the same as all others whether you are vaccinated or not. Just study the data of the most vaccinated countries like Israel, Iceland, Gibraltar, Singapore and others who have achieved over 80% vaccinations, they are all in a mess with open borders. Cayman has done so well over the past 21 months now we will be headed backwards to where we were in the beginning of 2020. We must continue to test and quarantine all for some period with testing because Covid will be with us in some form for the rest of our lives like the flu/influenza, and the common cold all being corona virus’s.

    • Anonymous says:

      So you are antivax or just don’t believe in vaccines?

      • Anonymous says:

        Not an antivaxer, just a simple realist. The virus is mutating as expected at such an alarming rate and the vaccines are not broad spectrum vaccines as they only target a single spike protein. what will happen is that existing vaccines will be come ineffective and there will be a rush for new experimental drugs which is occurring now. Pfizer have already announced that they are working on a new vaccine because they always knew that the day will come when the virus will be resistant to their current vaccine.

    • A says:

      And if covid is around forever are you proposing lock down and isolation continues forever? Zero covid has no exit strategy.

    • Anonymous says:

      Sorry but your post conflicts with itself. On one hand you say we cannot open our borders and on the other you say that Covid will be with us forever. So is your solution that we just remain closed off to the outside world forever?
      The reality is that at least 70% of our population are vaccinated and hopefully this incident will convince a lot more get it done. You cannot remain closed off forever. When is a good time to open our borders?
      Take a trip to the US, Canada or any European country and you will see that it is not as bad as you fear it is.

      • Anonymous says:

        That’s correct — having recently had to travel to the United States, I can confirm that it’s not as bad as I feared. It’s actually A LOT WORSE.

        • Anonymous says:

          You have got to be kidding? Everything is open and operating in the US. I can go anywhere without a concern. There is no fear mongering. Schools are open. Gyms, restaurants, stores are open. Sporting events and concerts are taking place.
          What was your fear? You may have had to wear a mask in some locations, but in many places you do not.

          • Anonymous says:

            Yeh, wonder why Biden ordered forced vaccines then. He probably should have talked to you first eh?

            • Anonymous says:

              He wants people vaccinated. I am. I’m not the problem. I’m not what is putting our hospitals in overload. His speech was directed to those unvaccinated!

  14. Anonymous says:

    Wonderful. We better be told just who broke the rules and they better be in prison just like that American and her Caymanian bf.

    • A says:

      Not necessarily any rules broken. Some of the other countries operating crazy zero covid policies have found the delta variant is so infectious that it leaks out one way or another. Some have leaked through physical contact from frozen packaging, AC flows over long distances, individuals remaining positive for longer periods than quarantine and having negative test results, the list goes on.

  15. Anonymous says:

    I believe the Cayman bubble has now burst and come to an end..We took this virus to be something the rest of the world had and thought we had some protective shield over us. We didn’t. This virus respects no one and does not discriminate. Our best defense has always been the vaccine, that is, if we want to survive it.

    Many of listened to the conspiracy theories and as each one was debunked another arose to take its place. Many of us refused to listen to the science and never took the vaccine? Why? Because we are spoiled brats living in what we thought was a “no covid world.” There are still some local Caymanians, and I say Caymanians especially as they are the ones that most concern me that believe and post articles in social media everyday that covid isn’t real and nothing more than a flu. There are even Caymanians particulalry in the USA, that continuously encourage and promote these types of disinformation. Folks, Caymanians should make their decisions about this crisis not based them on some divided and broken political system of the USA where we have seen hundreds of thousands die unnecessarily because of their strict adherence to their political party’s beliefs.

    Covid is real folks and it’s here now in the community. We cannot see it but we must now accept that it is and we must do all we can to protect ourselves and those we care about. It’s time to don our masks again and keep our distance. The government shouldn’t have to tell you that..

    Many have said that both Governments, this one and the last are forcing us to take the vaccine. This is nothing more than a farce perpetrated by those who do not believe in the vaccine and its ability to stave off the worst of the virus and to keep you alive should you get infected. I have not seen any Law or Act passed by either Government that mandates that people get vaccinated. Both governments have strongly encouraged people for their own good to get vaccinated which is the right thing to do. The Government is not going around picking up people off the street and forcing them to be vaccinated. Anyone in Cayman that has gotten the vaccination have done so out of their own free will.

    Caymanians, in particular, please I beg you to understand, that we must put aside political and in some cases religious differences and work together for the common good. I don’t think it is unfair for me to say that we Caymanians in the good times tend to be divided politically and otherwise but we always pull together whenever a crisis is at hand. A crisis is here now and rather than the nasty and ridiculous remarks and misinformation that we continue to post on social media, let us all work together for the common good and survival of our people.

    If you are old enough and eligible to get vaccinated, I implore you to do so to protect yourself and your loved ones. If you do not want to be vaccinated or cannot get vaccinated for medical reasons, please take every precaution that is available to you for your own safety.

  16. Anonymous says:

    ENOUGH fear mongering.

    how many have come into quarentine covid positive. At least 100. since the lock down

    NOT ONE PERSON DIED. And more so, all 100 didn’t even know they had it

    just because you get covid, does not mean you die.

    for the love of god. Wanna get rid of covid. Shut off your tv.

    • Anonymous says:

      So are you willing to test this theory on yourself and everyone you love? You’ll willingly all be infected with covid because you know 100% none of you will get sick?

    • Anonymous says:

      @7:10pm It’s people like you that need a good dose of covid to bring you to your senses..

      The problem with you is that you watch too much FOX news.

  17. Anonymous says:

    So, any accountability on the relevant staff at the airport last night, or do we just pay them and several other people to quarantine for the next two weeks due to their “error”.

  18. Anonymous says:

    This was inevitable and should not at all impact the reopening decision. If anything, it should show that an indefinite, country-wide lock down cannot be a long term answer. This is why we have a vaccine, folks. I suggest you get it because failure to do so endangers your life and others.

    • Anonymous says:

      HOLY SH*T – you people got worms in your brains. The first two people who got COVID in over a year are both vaccinated. Including one hospitalized with serious enough symptoms. Vaccinated spread, vaccinated die just like the unvaccinated. Vaccinating the remaining eligible 10 or 20% or whatever the number is won’t make a dent in transmissions or hospitalizations. Most of the people that haven’t been vaccinated are below the age of 40 with minimal chance of dying or even being hospitalized. The vaccine is obviously junk at stopping transmissions against the recent variants. And now we will find out how it fares against hospitalizations. So far it’s not looking good at all.

      • Anonymous says:

        8:25 am: yes, there have been “break thought” cases among the vaccinated, but very few of vaccinated infected persons are dying. Ninety plus % of Covid deaths are now among the unvaccinated. So it is not correct to say that “vaccinated persons die just like the unvaccinated”.

      • Anonymous says:

        Dear god. Look at BVI right now. 30+ dead in the last months ALL unvaxed, 100 in hospital, ALL BUT 2 unvaxed (and those 2 only partial). In the US only 40% remain unvaxed yet they make up 95% of hospital admissions. 95%!
        Quit spreading your dumb antivax nonsense. The evidence is crystal clear; the vaccine is highly effective at preventing serious illness and death.

        • Anonymous says:

          Cases for the vaccinated could just be a sore throat. Most people who are vaccinated are fairing very well when they get covid.

      • Anonymous says:

        The evidence elsewhere shows quite clearly that (a) although vaccinated people can catch Covid, their risk of doing so is greatly reduced (b) where a person is infected, their risk of hospitalisation and/or death is greatly reduced (c) notwithstanding that a majority of adults have been vaccinated, the majority of admissions and deaths are occurring in the unvaccinated.

        Why would Cayman be any different? It is simply wrong to say that there is no difference between vaccinated and unvaccinated, or that the vaccine is “junk”- the evidence demonstrates otherwise. Drawing conclusions on the basis of a single local hospital admission, as opposed to verified data from larger populations, is simply irrational.

        • Anonymous says:

          10.10am it’s been proven nowhere that the vaccines stop infections with Delta or the even newer variants. While the data does suggest lower mortality among the vaccinated of around 2-4x that mostly applies to people over the age of 50 or with comorbidities. But we will find out how this really works in Cayman, won’t we?

      • Anonymous says:

        Worms in our brains??..nah we killed them worms with some of that horse medicine the antivaxxers are overdosing on.

        We all good now..

  19. Anonymous says:

    All for a dollar. #### you #######

  20. Anonymous says:

    It had been a well known fact that vaccnation doesnt prevent transmission. It only will lessen severity. So as the covid will be endemic globally if we want tourism and if we want to travel overseas we have to open and a few will get infected and a few will get sick. We have to be prepared for it and manage rather panicking.
    Let us be practical.

    • Anonymous says:

      …you obviously are not the parent of a special needs child…

      I and my whole family are double vaxxed and if I had my way, vaccination would be mandatory for the entire population (subject to legit medical carve outs, only)…BUT the vaccination looses efficacy over time, we need the boosters – perhaps jabs number 3, 4 and 5 who knows…

      More time to get the booster(s) and to vaccinate under 12 YOs…..Q1 2022 is soon enough…

  21. Anonymous says:

    “ALL of the contacts of the two patients are now under 14-day quarantine” and they’ve all tested negative.
    Clearly not ALL of their contacts, because there must be someone they had contact with who was positive who has not yet been found. So either they are not fully disclosing who they contacted (perhaps because it was someone in quarantine they should not have interacted with), or it is an entirely random member of the public who infected them in an everyday situation such as at the supermarket or on a bus.
    If that’s the case and this is not tracked to a quarantine breach, this could become a super spreader event with a non-symptomatic case in the community carrying on life as usual and infecting everyone they come into contact with.
    So much for quarantine on trust. People cannot be trusted, even when lives are at stake.

  22. Jazzy B says:

    Please dear minister of Northside stop blaming people who have never left the community as if the were Standing up outside the Wuhan Lab. When your own siblings need to quarantine and stop spreading this virus and get tested. Thanx

  23. E Northsider says:

    PACT need to stop lying there is a Really serious spread in Northside some persons that have been in close contact with some who are positive are not being tested and are not being contact traced and are continuing to move around the community. Some need to acted responsible and get tested and not endanger the people of our northside community.

  24. Anonymous says:

    “This community transmission makes the phased reopening decision much more difficult”.

    Why? What’s the logic? If we open next month, in two months, February 2022 or next summer, there will be cases in the community. Given that COVID is not magically disappearing, are we closed for good? What has to change before we open?

    Clearly we aren’t opening October 14th if we can’t tolerate a single case. A zero-COVID policy is not sustainable in the long term.

    • Anonymous says:

      Absolutely agree! Unless we live in lockdown forever we will have COVID. There are really only two options here: 1) Stay locked down forever and COVID free, and 2) Open up but everyone takes personal precautions – meaning get vaccinated, wear a mask, wash your hands properly and frequently etc. There is no option to go halfway. We need to learn to live with COVID like most other countries.

  25. Anonymous says:

    Knee Jerk

  26. Anonymous says:

    Two fully injected people caught COVID

    • Anon says:

      Yes. Why is that a surprise to anyone? No one ever said you can’t catch it when vaccinated. What is your point?

    • Anonymous says:

      10:19 And the chances of both handling it well are significantly increased as a result of those injections…

      • Anonymous says:

        They said it was a 28 fold difference, they said 95% efficacy. But that was a long time ago. Today will be a long time ago in 2 months.

    • Anonymous says:

      Because it can happen. But death usually won’t. So….

  27. Anonymous says:

    Cayman needs to look at the rest of the world. Covid is inevitable, vaccinations work and life can carry on business as usual.

    Stop listening to the idiot commentators who have nothing better to do but worry.

    Life will carry on just fine and we need to accept the new reality.

    There are so many other ways you can meet your maker why so much focus on this one virus.

  28. Anonymous says:

    Way to go F**kers! Getting rid of quarantine tracking was an open invitation to allow the virus into our population, and a month earlier then you planned.
    I am a Caymanian tour operator who lost everything when the boarders closed, but I was happy to do my part to keep my people safe. Now, you just throw all that sacrifice away.
    Yes, I hope one day we can safely welcome visitors back to our shores, but we are not there yet. For everyone screaming that we need to ‘live with covid’, they need to understand that means people in our community will die. Not thousands, like we were worried about March 2020, but certainly dozens. Personally, I don’t want to see dozens of people on this island die to chase the tourism dollar, or so others can fly to Miami and back without quarantine. Call me crazy, but I would much rather live a poor man in my bubble at least a few more months while cases rise around the world.

  29. Anonymous says:

    not a pact fan…but well done on the measured calm response.

  30. Anonymous says:

    Hmmm.
    This is very odd one of them must have been somewhere to contract the virus.

    • Anonymous says:

      Yes, they got the vaccine

    • Anonymous says:

      Yes, visiting traveller in quarantine breaking the law and possibly contaminating others!

    • Anonymous says:

      In the community?!?

    • Anonymous says:

      Government needs to smarten up! Maybe now that Biden has come out with new vaccine rules Cayman will follow suit. It’s simple really 1 – all government employees must be vaccinated 2 – all work permit holders need to be vaccinated. 3 – when vaccine approved for children – all schools require all kids to be vaccinated and finally 4 – anyone leaving Cayman or traveling to cayman must be vaccinated. That should pretty much solve the problem. And a final step – tie T&B renewals to vaccinated employees just like pension and medical insurance is required for all employees. It’s not complicated.

    • Anonymous says:

      Plenty undocumenteds arriving up that side every week.

    • Anonymous says:

      Pesky canoes

  31. Anonymous says:

    I feel so sad for this 70 year old. She did everything she was told.

  32. Anonymous says:

    Can we keep the 14 day quarantine. Do we really need to give that up before January? Why cant we give OUR kids the benefits of living in a bubble at least until January. Can we keep it normal for them, as long as we can.

    • Anonymous says:

      And what will January bring?

      Do you think this virus will go away?

      Get the shot and open up we can not stay closed forever?

    • Anonymous says:

      You mean, like forever? I have kids but Cayman has to come into the real world and people need to act responsibly.

    • Anonymous says:

      Don’t bother asking anymore. Demand it for christ sake.

    • Anonymous says:

      Risk to kids or covid is less than the flu. That is a scientific fact, so let’s stop the irrational panic.

      CNS: No, it’s not a scientific fact. The risk of death for children from either is very low but higher for covid. See here.

      However, kids who get covid are at risk (though low) of long-covid.

  33. Anonymous says:

    14 days isolation? Does that mean they are unvaccinated? Is government going to pay the full cost, or are the unvaccinated going to be asked to bear some element of the cost their choices force on others?

    • Anonymous says:

      9.04pm You are too stupid to insult.

    • Anonymous says:

      We the tax payers should not be paying the bills of the unvaxxed…..that was their choice (unless truly a valid medical reason)…..

    • Anonymous says:

      Both patients were fully vaccinated. It makes no difference

    • Anonymous says:

      Easy. Just don’t leave Cayman. It’s actually pretty good here! If your really want to leave, don’t come back.

    • Anonymous says:

      14 days in the accepted possible incubation period from infection to showing a positive result. These people are known to have been in contact with a positive person so they cannot be released until it is known they were not infected.
      This is also why the 5 day quarantine period was always a crazy idea. A person could have been infected just prior to travelling and may have been released from quarantine on day 5/6 before showing a positive result for any testing.
      And now here we are, all at risk of serious illness as a result. Just so some entitled people could go on their shopping trips to Miami, then come back and infect us all.

    • Anonymous says:

      Only people making the decisions that will be effecting our lives is the current government.

      Weighing the dollar against the lives of our children the current goverment is what is forcing choices on others don’t get it twisted.

      Will they pay full cost to the ones unable to be vaccinated who become infected? Like our children? Honestly, My family is worth more than money.

      You all for opening the border are some of the greediest sob’s that has walked this earth. Saying you all have reptile blood is a disgrace to the animal kingdom.

      I hope the same ones advocating for our borders to open get covid first so they can stfu about it.

    • Anonymous says:

      14 days does not mean they were unvaccinated. They may have been, but you are extrapolating from the travel guidelines which are not necessarily congruent with active infection protocols.

  34. Anonymous says:

    I’m praying for Cayman.

    • Anonymous says:

      LOL

    • Anonymous says:

      I’ll get vaxxed

    • Anonymous says:

      Why pray…..just get a shot!

    • Concerned neighbor says:

      The Christian: “please daddy, Don’t hit us anymore”

      OG J Diddy: “take that take that can’t stop won’t stop eh eh eh eh. ”

      Honestly, all jokes aside. im genuinely curious. What did you accomplish by anonymously telling us that?
      Does that make your magical prayer powers stronger? Would you like a thank you? a gold star? A cookie perhaps? What do you think YOUR prayer is actually going to do? And why did you feel it necessary to inform us of said prayer? Seriously. Inquiring minds want to know.

      I hope you have taken advantage of some proven method of innoculation and you aren’t just waiting for the abusive sky dweller to spare the rod and spoil the child.

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