We must prepare for reopening our borders
Troy Leacock writes: We weren’t ready to open our borders last week but we can be long before the end of the year. I’m a tourism business owner and operator, absolutely crushed by the border closure. I’m desperate for a safe reopening of our borders so I can start making a living again. Yes, to start making profits so I can pay my health insurance, repair my car, pay my strata fees — ordinary things that most take for granted.
A week ago I thought we were ready to reopen our borders on 14th October. But we weren’t. I don’t mean that our health services or our vaccination rate or the risk to our children made us unready. We quite simply weren’t ready mentally as a society to calmly and systematically cope with cases of COVID in our community, institutions and businesses. And that’s not surprising. While other countries have learned to deal with COVID, we have lived as if COVID doesn’t exist. And for us it didn’t, until last week.
To be ready for reopening our borders, we needed to re-enter the world of COVID. And now we have, or rather COVID has re-entered our world. The concern I now have is that we will spend the next few months trying to do what we did last year, creating a COVID-free bubble so we can once again pretend that COVID doesn’t exist.
Now that we have been rudely awoken by COVID cases, instead of pulling the blanket over our heads and trying to go back to sleep, we need to rub the sleep out of our eyes and get up and face the world.
Now is the time to document and communicate the safety protocols and procedures for every type of institution and business. Now is the time to strengthen our quarantine system and enforcement. Now is the time to implement vaccination mandates for employees of schools, heath services, ports and uniformed workers. Now is the time to implement widespread rapid testing in every household.
Now is the time to give vaccination boosters to our over 50s. Now is the time to drive our vaccination rate not just to 80% but to 90% of our population (and I don’t mean the 71,100 high end of estimate range but the actual ESO estimate of 66,000). Now is the time for the government and industry to stop pointing fingers and work together, every single minute of every single day.
The recent outbreak has exposed our lack of readiness. But that doesn’t justify a knee jerk reaction to indefinitely delay reopening. Everything that we need to do can be accomplished in the next two months. Not being open for the Christmas period means thousands of visitor cancellations and refunds and a loss of revenue in the order of $100 million.
The thousands of Caymanian employees and business owners who have suffered terribly for the past 18 months deserve a real effort by government and society to reopen safely. Government should set a Phase 4 date for 1st December and we all do what we should have done over the past two months, get ready for reopening.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Category: Viewpoint
Last evening’s Bermuda Government press release opens with
““Sadly, I am reporting another COVID related death,” said Minister of Health, Kim Wilson, JP, MP. “I am so sorry to hear of another loss of life, and I extend heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the deceased during this difficult time.”
https://www.gov.bm/articles/covid-19-update-20-september-2021
That is 5 deaths reported over 2 days. I understand the economic arguments for allowing Covid in. Bermuda provides an object lesson on the non-economic side of allowing Covid in.
Bermuda has a much older population with a lower vaccination rate.
Rubbish from someone trying to obscure the issues. 67% of Bermuda’s population is fully vaccinated compared with our 71%. As for any population age difference – more rubbish.
The greedy dislikers on this don’t want these facts to be shared.
Enough of the name calling. I’m happy to keep quarantine but people aren’t greedy for wanting to be able to pay the mortgage and put food on the table. Not everyone wants to live off handouts from CIG.
Would it be useful if I post a link to Jersey or Guernsey who were successful in their opening…last year? There will always be success stories and horror stories, none of which are Cayman, and no point in trying to find the best, or worst to highlight a point, or avoid the difficult choices.
Jersey has a vaccination rate slightly lower than we have, currently has hundreds of active cases and has had 78 deaths – a slightly worse outcome than Bermuda.
Uh yeah it would be obviously. It’s not about finding the best or worst to make a point, it’s about having a clear understanding of what is working, where, and why. And ultimately whether we can apply those lessons learned locally. Isn’t that just (un)common sense?
Quarantine works – as has been known for a couple of hundred years. The other options – not so much.
Cayman Islands do not have the leadership skills to take the island into the future. It will stay firmly rooted in the past until further notice or when the money runs out. Only then can it change to a more modern society. Patience.
Agreed. Just like a drug addict… Progress won’t be made until you hit bottom. Sorry Mates, we’re in for a bumpy ride.
Troy Leacock is rightfully concerned for himself and his family. What has happened to many people within the tourism sector has been devastating. That said, the position taken by Mr. Leacock is understandably mostly self-serving and focused on his own needs with scant consideration for the wider community.
Sounds like he is concerned for all the many people that have been beaten by the close down. If you work for Government then you are living off of a loan that will need to be repaid by those working not for government like Mr. Leacock if he can get work by next year. If not then the Government will not be sending out paychecks to the chosen ones next year. The choice is risk of being one of the few that may die of Covid or living in a recession on a third world island. I believe the choice should reflect a balance between the two. But I am an expat so they will not do that here. Good luck Cayman Islands. The next year will be hard even for the Government sponsored tribe.
A recession in a tourist-dependent nation during a global pandemic is inevitable. We are not being beaten down by the border closing, which has allowed many to survive (both literally and financially relying on local business), but rather by the fact that there is a pandemic that still rages on.
To an extent you’re right and personally I hope cruise ship tourists NEVER return but you can’t blame Mr Leacock for advocating for his livelihood to be restored; certainly calling him names for wanting to save his business is an insult to hundreds of others and their families in the same position. The same challenges face us opening up next year as today so he’s quite right to ask why another high season is being sacrificed; I don’t know either unless the plan is to keep rolling the date indefinitely. There are good arguments for staying shut and good arguments for opening up but let’s have the discussion with a little compassion for both views.
Have you missed a paycheck? Have you not paid your bills? Do you have people depending on your business that can not run without tourists?
Do you believe the restaurants and hotels can continue just operating foe you? They have welcomed you now, but slowly they will dwindle away. Will you be the person shouting at government that their is nothing on island and they need to develop hospitality at that point.
Think about things beyond how nice it has been foe you making your regular paycheck, having no waits at restaurants and the beach back. What will you do when you have not be of these options because you wanted to stay closed from the world just a little longer.
More people have died in Cayman from drunk drivers or bar stabbing a than covid. Why are we not putting a stop to driving for a while or banning knives? Get on with it and open up and be smart and be safe. Pretty simple
More people have died on the roads BECAUSE OF THE MEASURES PUT IN PLACE TO STOP COVID KILLING PEOPLE. Good grief, did this make sense in your head? We don’t stop driving because it’s extremely unlikely HSA will be overrun with drivers needing intensive care in a few months. We’ve tried to stop covid because there’s a good chance HSA will be over run with covid patients.
With 75+% of the population vaccinated and a large proportion of those remaining children, who have a much lower risk profile, it is unlikely HSA will be overrun. This is fear mongering. Look at the statistics. Is Covid dangerous, yes. Is it dangerous to our society when you are vaccinated, much less so, to a point where it is manageable. The solution is simple. Get vaccinated and open up the country!
Chance of a child dying from covid is 1 in 500000! Dying in a car crash is 1 in 107! So maybe the measures aren’t working and should be readdressed. This is just to say we put measures in place foe other serious issues, but continue living. Why can’t we actually do the quick math ans see that with the vaccination rate we have and the population we have, the Hoapital would have under 100 people! If we can not handle that, then perhaps we need to refocus measures put in place that you so wisely speak of
my friend.
To 10.13am “More people have died in Cayman from drunk drivers or bar stabbing a than covid” exactly because of the steps taken to control Covid spread.
So why no hysteria to deal with these issues? Are these people not important? Your stay closed argument can’t be half pregnant! It’s either hysteria foe all the deaths and we go live in a cocoon, or it’s not!
“Who is John Galt?”
The hero of lunatic libertarians
No. The fictitious hero of objectivists. You know — those insane people who believe that a person owns that which he or she produces. Those nutballs who believe in self-subsistence and personal responsibility. Those moonbats who think that those that produce should be able to set the value of the fruit of their efforts.
We should shun them.
Pausing the reopening plan goes down in history as biggest chicken-shit move by government.
Troy
Is this what you want for Christmas?
https://bernews.com/2021/09/cdc-upgrades-bermuda-level-4-highest-level/
So by pausing until January will stop this? Have a plan rather than hiding
Please tell me where in the comment it said “Do not have a plan”
What you meant was – the current situation doesn’t meet your desires so therefore it’s wrong.
To me that seems a bit silly?
“The thousands of Caymanian employees“ Wha? I’ve never had it better! Wages are up and opportunities abound as the work force has less work permits
No worries about reopening. No beach, no tourists.
If you can’t open your borders to vaccinated travelers now with minimal restrictions, you will never be prepared. If you’ve not come up with a creative solution like allowing visitors to come, test at the airport and “quarantine” at their final destination like a hotel- you’ve not thought about this hard enough. If you are protecting the very population that has chosen not to be vaccinated, you are protecting the wrong people at the cost of the responsible ones. If you believe you are protecting your children at the cost of overwhelming your healthcare system, you haven’t been paying attention to science.
There are ways to safely open your borders and there are dozens of models showing you how to do so. Your leaders either don’t value tourism or they don’t understand science.
A commenter correctly said earlier, that people’s travel plans have already changed and your leaderships operational decisions will severely affect tourists future plans. Count me as one of them! While I love the island, my family and I certainly are not lacking safe options that have beautiful beaches and clean waters within four hours of New York( that have modeled a safe opening and followed through with those plans)
And on the financial strain this may cause- the math is pretty simple. Between the Kimpton and Ritz along, there are 600 rooms. Assume the average room price for Xmas week is $1,000 and average stay is between 7 and 10 days. You are getting Revpar of ~$10000 for those rooms during those stays. This does not include incidentals such as food which would add to those totals. If you assume that there are between 6500 and 7000 rooms on Grand Cayman and at Xmas alone, the occupancy rate is 80%, you can see just how much tourism revenue is lost that week alone….even if you assume an average nightly rate 50% less everywhere else.
If this doesn’t matter, then the islands finances are in an enviable place.
You’ve had 19 months to figure this out. And to the commenter who cited Covid fatalities in the US- more than half happened at the onset of the pandemic when we had no idea what Covid was or how to treat it. 98% of the preventable deaths are those unvaccinated people who made the choice not to be vaccinated. Moral of the story- get vaccinated, be vigilant, trust science,test and take smart risks. Don’t live in a bubble, Covid will outlast all of us
We figured this pandemic out much better than most, without a single loved one lost. Thanks for your feedback, tho.
All reports show a death in Cayman.
I guess that poor person was not loved?
Don’t be so arrogant, there is nothing superior about locking your self away forever.
This death was a cruise ship passenger who came on land with a health emergency. He was neither resident or tourist here.
There were 2 deaths.
Firstly we haven’t been locked away; many thousands of people have travelled and visited with quarantine on arrival and continue to do so. We’ve had 2 covid deaths. One an Italian man who had multiple heart attacks and was medevaced off a ship and another lady who returned home to Cayman with IIRC terminal cancer. Furthermore locking down the border early and testing and tracing clearly was a vastly superior strategy for dealing with a pandemic as evidenced not just by Cayman but many Asian countries far closer to the original outbreak. Obviously geography made it much easier in Cayman but you’re utterly delusional if you think any other countries future pandemic plans don’t now start with closed borders, testing, tracing and travel with quarantine.
They may start with it- but I’d like to believe that wouldn’t be the ongoing, indefinite strategy.
Keep playing the zero sum game- it’s a brilliant argument. If you had real health leaders there, they would communicate that hospitalization and death are extremely rare once vaccinated. The US has reported that 0.00002% deaths were from those vaccinated. I’m very sorry for the 1.4 Caymanians that may lose their life if you open up responsibility. As far as hospitalizations- the average is 0.17 per 100000 persons. If you don’t think your health system can support that, I agree, you have bigger problems than reopening. Im quite sure the amount of unvaccinated that have a qualifying medical reason for not getting inoculated is quite low. So- you your leadership has effectively chosen to protect those who have willfully declined to protect themselves.
Brilliant strategy…..let me know what your strategy is to prevent seasonal flu. Also- take a look at the randomized mask study that was done in Bangladesh. Spoiler: masks work. They work better in combination with vaccinations and other safety measures.
You act like it’s open and die or live in a bubble and live. For that, you are not to blame- it’s what your Government has programmed you to believe.
Lol please. where are these dozens of models? Like other commenters have said, global tourism is in a slump. We aren’t missing much and any attempts to follow these dozens of imaginary models you referenced but couldn’t name, will just lead to more loss of revenue. But you’re an American so you obviously must know what’s best for cayman.
It’s 2021, why are we trying to save tourism when it’s obviously not a robust industry in the face of pandemics and and increased hurricane activity?
Y’all think this is going to be the last pandemic? You think tourists are rushing to Louisiana right now with all that hurricane damage? You think hurricane seasons are getting lighter? You think we have some unique tourism product that people can’t live without? We have a beach and some dive sites. Whoop tee fkn doo. No pyramids, no monuments, no mountains no rivers no entertainment district, no sports teams etc. I’m not saying we don’t have great diving or fishing or a relaxing pace of life, but come on we all know our tourism product is not world class. This ain’t Fiji. This ain’t the Maldives. This ain’t Costa Rica or Peru or Hawaii (who btw have been trying to discourage tourism because their health care system was buckling). Jurisdictions with robust tourism products are struggling but for some reason you think we are going to fare differently? As a caymanian I just do not understand the logic. We need a better education system (dare I say more qualified education ministers) so we can produce individuals that are capable of helping to develop new modern remote work friendly industries. Industries that are resilient to the dangers this generation faces.
Tourism is not the one. It’s a bonus that only works when you have nothing else to offer or when your economy is diverse enough to develop and support it when something inevitably curtails it. That’s the reality.
We got out of the burning house with our wallet and our smart phone and most of our valuables but a bunch of idiots want us to run back inside to grab a fax machine that barely works and is far from essential.
It’s about time we start looking at cutting our losses and pivoting to something sustainable and DEPENDABLE.
“We got out of the burning house with our wallet and our smart phone and most of our valuables but a bunch of idiots want us to run back inside to grab a fax machine”…
Damn. Nailed it.
You speak as if the Caymanian people have some benefit from hotel revenue. We do not. We are the ones most likely to lose our parents and grandparents to any opening. The bubble actually worked fine for most. It should have been maintained.
But CIG charges a tourism accommodation tax and that money is then used to fund infrastructure and programs that benefit Caymanians. There is a reason that Panton knows that Cayman can’t stay in a bubble indefinitely despite the risks.
Who owns the kimpton and Ritz ??? You think we give a sh*t about some billionaire losing money. Who told him to buy most of the hotels on seven mile beach. There is a small fraction of caymanians who actually made something decent from tourism everybody else was racing to the bottom in terms of pricing do you remember government had to put a limit on the wildlife interaction licenses because every week some new boat and crew was offering some type of chartering service. Bermuda is being overwhelmed with sick covid patients so much so that they are trying to bring in more health care professionals. Their travel status has been moved to level 4 by the CDC and it’s advising citizens not to travel to Bermuda!!!! Can’t you all see what’s going on here. Stop thinking everything is about money the real caymanians will survive all you foreigners screaming to open the border with your threats please leave and put your property up for sale that will drive prices down and caymanians/residents will benefit finally but thats the truth nobody wants to hear right..
And no Caymanians own property?
Five the prices down you say and all the caymanians that own property will loose too.
Who owns the restaurants that said they where closing yesterday??
It’s more like you don’t give a shit about people with money …but remember these people employ others so now who is loosing.
Not all of us can have government jobs and pay rises.
Dear god. Did you get your economics degree out of a cornflake box?
Oh boy! Who cares about the guy who is employing thousands, investing in roads, infrastructure and healthcare. Your entire economy- it’s literally a benefactor of very wealthy people doing very wealthy people things there. You become Haiti when you get rid of them XXXX.
“…..and take smart risks”.
That basically means you won’t follow protocols. Give us a few examples please.
you’re on a roll this week Robert Mugabe IV, how is that assumption even suggested ? I take a risk regularly going out on a bicycle, that doesn’t mean I go with an intention of running against pedestrians at Caymana Bay.
How about requiring masks in public places and enforcing it? How about opening hotels to 60% capacity instead of 100%? How about testing in during your stay? How about allowing only outdoor dining if you aren’t vaccinated. Again- not a zero sum game. Look at the Bahamas….not the nicest island in the world, and a really low vaccination rate- but at least they are trying… and it’s working better than living in The Truman Show
I agree with the post of 3:03pm, But 76% of vaccinated persons ahould not be held hostage for 23%. Despite the seriousness of discussing LIFE, and I am hopeful that more people will take the vaccine and reduce those numbers, the majority should NOT be held hostage by a minority. If the belief is “its my body, it’s my choice” thats their RIGHT but I WANT MY RIGHTS also! “It’s my LIFE and I want to live and have a livelihood”.
You are right. It is bizarre that those who don’t want the vaccine also believe that they can use the argument that the substantial majority of people should not be allowed to get on with their lives. It’s a little like someone who refuses to wear a seat belt when driving to say that no one else can drive because seat belts are bad, in their opinion.
Marc, Markus, Michael needs to go on a field trip to Bermuda, all expenses paid for by the people of the Cayman Islands.
And….. take Troy with you all…. all expenses paid as well.
They do have that right. Many of whom have sacrificed their freedom to keep covid 19 out of our community just like you.
Those advocating to accept the risk that come with covid and to open the border have no humanity left inside them and to them our Island is here just for business sake. Well I say to them, learn to live without it as there is no new normal anymore and I refuse to expose myself our my fammily and friends to a highly contagious pathegon that has killed over 5 million in the past 2 years, just so the greedy can line their pockets with a few dollars from tourists and forget about the local residents. Not again. Covid has leveled the playing field for equality and i’d be damned if i’m risking my life for greedy people who only care about where the next dollar is coming.
Even Wayne knows that Cayman can’t afford to stay closed forever.
If the vaccines are safe, remove the law which prevents legal claims for medical negligence.
It will be interesting that when the island opens the vaccinated are likely to suffer a lot with delta
How are you being held hostage? Go travel. Go earn a livelihood.
When we re-open the uncontrolable viral spread will see us placed on no fly lists by the USA. A few weeks of tourism for a few bucks and then restrictive control measures as the virus runs rampant.
Limited tours, continued cruise ship bans and reduced hotel/restaurant occupancy for the price of an entrenched virus and a few dead Caymanians.
I know this comment will recieve a lot of thumbs down but honestly I don’t see tourism returning to any significant level soon.
You are correct – your comment is ill-informed and deserves many thumbs down.
5:42 This is one of the dumbest comments I’ve seen on here….and that’s saying something!
No fly list? What are you on about? US just opened to travel from UK and Europe for vaccinated persons.
People need to understand what re-opening may bring. This is what Bermuda reported on Sunday evening:
“since the last update, there have been 66 recoveries and sadly four Coronavirus-related deaths…
Earlier this afternoon the Bermuda Hospitals Board confirmed a total of 51 Coronavirus Disease (COVID) cases in the Hospital with 12 persons currently in intensive care. The BHB reported 3 new COVID discharges and 2 new COVID admissions.”
How many dead Caymanians and residents is acceptable?
You should absolutely detest automobiles based on your logic.
That’s why so much money is spent making cars as safe as possible. You know, seatbelts, crumple zones, using advanced materials and engineering. In other words, SCIENCE.
Are you dizzy? Did you really just compare using a tool humans created to an infectious disease that we have little to no control over? Disrespectfully, Your analogy is ridiculous. unless you are a literal crash test dummy. Judging by your comment you legit might be. Or a troll. Both maybe?
The biggest variable in driving is the appallingly poor driving demonstrated on our roads.
Bermuda is now seeking help from other territories to staff its hospitals.
Marc, Markus, Michael and Troy – you all should go for the on-the-job experience – perhaps in the housekeeping and laundry departments of those hospitals.
Reopening means that the unvaccinated, who are 23% of our 71,000, aren’t necessarily prepared to confront the inbound virus. If 5% of these 16,000 get sick enough to need hospitalisation, as with Delta elsewhere, that’s statistically 800 people against a couple dozen available ventilated beds. Maybe not all at once, but probably in clusters like GTPS. The award-winning field hospital we once had, boasting maybe 100 or so beds, was closed and put away. If the USA is any guide (and it’s not a template of success) at least 1 in 500 people will die from the unvaccinated group, even if we had hospital capacity up and running to take everyone. That’s conservatively 32 deaths out of these 16,000. Then there’s >600 of the 800 that might survive somewhat, but will suffer lasting heart damage, venous/arterial thrombosis/amputations, cardiac brain stroke incidents, neurological damage – which will be lifetime medical costs borne by the Cayman Islands. Even as these things start happening, the hospital capacity will be overloaded, like Bermuda’s is now, as the virus rips through the unprepared, including percentage of overly optimistic vaccinated. Non-essential services will be shuttered down anyway. No in-person dining or bar hopping, in any case. No tourist attractions. None of the “joys” and “freedoms” we have been used to this last year. That’s factually what “living with the virus” will look like, if politicians are seduced by the fantasy of “normal”. Looking around, “normal” does not exist like we remember it. The closest thing now is jerky oscillating policy of lockdowns and reopenings, where “flattening” hospital admissions is the goal and non-adaptive businesses get crushed anyway. Cayman needs to be smarter about how it manages this. If educating those with bad info is so unpopular, the sadder alternative will be to ramp-up field hospital capacity and rent freezer space.
” If educating those with bad info”
Like this?
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/30/world/coronavirus-who-masks-recommendation-trnd/index.html
here’s 5:36, posting links and recommendations from a year and half ago that has since been re-evaluated due to better understanding/prevention measures of the virus to carry his/hers preferred narrative, – yeah sure, keep being part of the problem 🤡
You gave no…NO… logical solutions? Simply saying “Cayman needs to be smarter” is your best thought, you need to look at who the electorate elected to guide us = Deaf, Dumb and Blind! CIG will reopen us, and in one instance you are correct, we should rent freezer space.
This is the kind of lazy logic that is infuriating because reading it sounds true until you look at the reality.
– Where are you getting the 5% hospitalisation rate? The UK has an admission to hospital rate of about 3% of the total cases on a 7 day moving average. The UK has a lower vaccination rate than Cayman so will likely be higher. This means that 3.5% cases are admitted to hospital but many can be discharged quickly.
– The current UK hospitalisation rate is standing at around 8,000 of a country of 68 million people. This means that they currently have 0.01% of their population in hospital because of Covid. If you extrapolate that back to Cayman with a population of about 70,000 it is 8 people!
Your comment is full of alarm and doom and gloom without real substance. The truth that is coming back from every data set, wherever it is, is that if you are fully vaccinated you have a much lower rate of catching Covid, a much lower rate of being in hospital and then a much lower rate of dying. The rates vary by data sets but are anywhere from 10 to 39 times. Even if it is the lower rate it means you have a 10 times more likely to die from Covid if unvaccinated. The messaging cannot be clearer – Get Vaccinated! At the end of the day if people choose not to, then that is their problem. We need to move on with life.
The uk does not have a lower vaccination rate than Cayman
Sorry it does. Cayman is at 77% for 1st dose and a little over 70% for 2nd dose. UK is 73% for 1st dose and 66% for 2nd. They have delivered 93 million doses so far which is amazingly good, but they are running a little behind Cayman in terms of population vaccinated.
I don’t know where you got your information but the uk is 89% first dose and 82% second dose look at their daily information
Anonymous 3:03pm read this article and click through on the research links.
I think your stats are skewed by a few things like not accounting for children as part of the unvaxxed (far lower hospitalization rate), our high vax rate (minimizes transmission and hospital overload) and relative size to resources (significantly better ratio than places experiencing 5% hospitalization rate).
I’m NOT a statistician but I roughly got 11 people hospitalized at any given point if theres sufficient management of the situation, based on our demographics.
I see Anonymous 7:09am came up with 8.
I have a young kid and an at risk parent, so I know the concern, but math is really on our side here.
I think Troys idea for December 1 opening while comprehensively working on sealing cracks and gaps in our response is workable.
Vax, Test, Trace, Mask, Observe social protocols, stay outdoors when possible, keep your immune system strong and be stay home when possible, which i love to do.
This thing is scary but misinterpreted stats doesn’t help make anyone more confident.
There are things we can do to protect the vulnerable and those who have little choice in this matter.
Lets adult, have reasonable discussion, do the things and try to turn the page on this year.
https://www.libertywealth.ky/blog/out-of-the-frying-pan-and-into-the-fire
I really sympathise with Mr Leacock and he makes a whole slew of great points. Selfishly perhaps I won’t pretend I haven’t enjoyed the lack of tourists though. I hope, but sadly doubt, more thought will be given to what kind of tourism product we offer going forward; IMO the cruise industry does far more harm than good.
Also $100m over Christmas, sounds way out; that’s 10,000 tourists spending $10,000 each… no way.
At the outset of COVID, there were many, similarly bad with history, numbers, and business projections in this sector that refused to pivot, re-tool, or have their companies reviewed for free by seasoned credentialed accounting and business consulting professionals. It’s no wonder they are feeling it now, right on schedule. Their lack of foresight shouldn’t mean that we need to agree on an acceptable number of dead people. Perhaps those generous pros could re-open their doors and book appointments for willing late-to-the-party local entrepreneurs?
@3:29 Pivot to what, selling breadfruits?
sure 3:29, – ‘have their companies reviewed for free by seasoned credentialed accounting and business consulting professionals’
because they knew what the rest of us didn’t; back in March 2020 ‘the seasoned ones’ were predicting a 20 mth shut down period 🙄
I can’t vouch for the number of tourist at Christmas time but I can for the dollar amount. Family of 4:
Plane tickets $3500 (some portion of that is CIG tax)
Room: $7500 10 day stay usually has about 23% Grat/tax on top of that $9225
Food: its a bunch as everyone well knows
Diving: we will dump $500 to $1000 easy
So, yes. I can believe it.
I think we have to stop pretending like there’s going to be a triumphant return of tourism just because we reopen our borders.
Because of this global pandemic, January-May 2021 travel is down globally a further 65% from the same period in 2020, which was already down 73% from pre-pandemic levels.
https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-covid-19-travel-shock-hit-tourism-dependent-economies-hard/
The fact is we just will not see the 2.33m visitors we saw in 2019 return to Cayman for a very, very, very, long, long time — even if we reopen our borders — and it will take a long time to figure out how many tourism-dependent businesses on island can survive with this reduced amount of global travel.
We might have to come to terms with the fact that too large of a share of our economy is dependent on tourism, which is subject to so many factors outside of our control (weather, airlift, foreign labour, etc.) and which produces many, many ill effects (unsustainable development, trash production, environmental impact) for the benefits it generates, all while keeping very little money on shore. For every Caymanian owned tourism business I know on this island, I can name half a dozen who send the money they earn abroad.
Troy, you are smart enough and talented enough to do so many things outside of tourism. So, too, are the many talented and hard working Caymanians that used to work in tourism. It might be time to retool, whether or not the borders reopen.
Very good alternative perspective. Good to see realist and non bandwagoners on this site, rarity.
“Now is the time” to get ready??!! What have we been doing for the last 18 months? We are ready- we have the vaccine, we are better prepared with treatments, our medical system has been trying for a mass outbreak. Anyone that was surprised by the cases has had their head in the sand on 7MB! Open the boarders, with masks indoors and to vaccinated travelers only
The rest of the world has been traveling for over a year!!! Many Caribbean islands are successfully balancing tourism and safety.
How does CIG think they are keeping Little Cayman safe by increasing travel restrictions from Grand which is the only source of tourism? Capacity there will now go from 10% to nothing. What few people are left are vaccinated adults in the tourism industry. If they want to”keep Little safe” the best thing they could do for that island is OPEN! GCM is already set up to separate international travel–how hard could it be to funnel tourists to Little and back!
Yes send all the tourists to little cayman. Build resorts there have all the tourist business there
While I feel for Mr. Leacock and others who have been negatively impacted by our border closure, I don’t think that just reopening the border is the answer. What about the businesses that will be negatively impacted when COVID infection rates skyrocket in our community? What about people getting sick and our health care system having to care for the sick? What about the inevitability of people in Cayman dying from COVID? Are we supposed to just accept that people will get sick and die, so others can profit from tourists returning?
I don’t know what the answer is, I just know that there are no easy ones. Clearly, just throwing open the border gates is not the solution.
I agree with all of this. The negative impacts are outweighing the benefits at this point, especially since the main benefit of staying closed now seems to be delaying the inevitable. Businesses are suffering and people are suffering. I spent the weekend on the phone to my very distressed teenager explaining that a flight home from university for Christmas might be hard to find (they are not in the UK) and with the new seven day quarantine we’d be spending Christmas Day in quarantine if we decide to stay home instead of going off island. Why did we all rush to be vaccinated again?
Your distressed teenager, it seems, is learning a valuable life lesson about how sometimes we aren’t able to get everything we want.
That’s unnecessarily harsh. It’s not about having the latest expensive pair of trendy trainers. It’s about trying to get home to spend Christmas with family and hopefully not in quarantine. Jeepers.
Apologies for the admittedly snide comment.
I was just a bit flabbergasted by how the negative impacts you cited — the inconvenience of potentially having to travel to see your daughter instead of having her come here, or having to be inside together on Christmas day in quarantine if she travelled to Cayman because of an extra two days of quarantine — outweighed the benefits of the freedom that is currently being afforded to all of us from living in a jurisdiction that has worked so hard for the past 18+ months to keep COVID out of the community for the safety and wellbeing of everyone here.
We all miss our families, and are sad that the pandemic that rages on globally has meant that we have had to adjust our behaviours due to circumstances beyond our control. That is not lost on me — I too have had family cancel their travel plans to spend the holidays together — but, the way I see it, this is part of what we all should be doing in support of one another.
Because of fear and true hope that things would go back to normal and people would have the freedom to travel. Vaccinated or not, we will never go back to “normal”. We have to learn to live with it and move on. Enough of the division that CIG has so greatly contributed to.
Why did we all rush to be vaccinated again? Seriously? You are alive and healthy enough to make that stupid post! THINK for God’s sake. I like how you are privileged to have children overseas, but worry about their safe vacation at the holidays! #caymantrash.
Life is harsh. Welcome to reality.
Everyone has already cancelled and will not rebook. Damage is done.
I’ve canceled 3x ( family of 4 adults ), but would rebook if it was guaranteed a firm date was set, no quarantine and our vaccination cards would be accepted. We wanted to come down for Christmas like we’ve done for years.
Same. Family of 5, all vaccinated. We had planned to come for 2 weeks (the whole school break) but can’t as – even with a 7 day quarantine – we would still be in quarantine for Christmas Day and potentially longer if the CDC card is not accepted. Just booked flights elsewhere. Bitterly disappointed. And worried about those businesses who had been holding on for high season. And for what it’s worth, we would have had no issues with mask wearing indoors, social distancing, not congregating in large groups and so on – we live that way every day and are used to it.
Agree- two families here- from the Northeast where we have had the strictest Covid practices in place. Haven’t cancelled yet but that’s just a formality. I think we spend about $1000 per week on Taxis alone. If there for 10 days, we normally eat out half at $3-500 per event. I can deal with all of the sensible restrictions you want to throw at me- but the flip flopping is what is going to stop many from returning. We can’t sit on edge wondering if our trip is a go one week and off the next.
Was just on the phone with my family trying to figure out what we are going to do with our reservations. We are also from the Northeast. Can’t wait much longer, but need firm confirmation. We all want out of the cold. 3 families traveling.
I agree with you, we must open! BUT we do need a plan! Regardless, leadership requires that you have to make hard and unapproved decisions in the best interest of the country on a whole and many people will not be an agreement. I think that this is a learning curb for Mr. Premier, be patient with him.
Now on to a slightly different topic, I am all for reopening, it must happen! I am disappointed in the lack of preparation BUT I am TIRED of hearing about these wealthy mostly non Caymanian business owners, many of whom have a foothold on the industry. Some of these “Caymanian” Owners I have never heard of or seen in the local / lower echelon of the community. Many of these people DO NOT know how to or care to EMPATHIZE with the MAJORITY of Caymanians. Caymanians who are long SUFFERING, STRUGGILING, STRESSING LONG BEFORE COVID, LONGER THAN 18 MONTHS. And they are worried about losing one or two investors who intended to buy their “2nd home”, tourists so you can pay your staff (SOME OF WHOM ARE CAYMANIAN) 6 dollars and profit ABUNDANTLY. Blasphemy! Stop ya Cryin and hold out where you can, improvise, target a different audience, cook local food, cut your staff, cater to local events and attainable prices, and if all else fails… Dear I say maybe IT IS TIME. Maybe it is time for things in Cayman to crash so that the little men can get a foot in, maybe it is time for new less self absorbed, considerate “Owners” to buy their losses, maybe it is time for things to crash so that the cost of living goes down, maybe it is time for things to crash for the property market to become more attainable to locals, maybe it is time for a CHANGE. If we have to go right down to needing her majesty’s help to rid the island of money hungry, greedy, top leading monopolies with no jurisdiction in their industry largely due to the lack of legislation that does not set parameters then MAYBE ITS TIME.
Saying things like we wont bounce back or it wont be right away. Of course we WILL bounce back, of course it MAY NOT be right away. Just like everyone in the world knows you have to live with it, everyone in the world knows that IT WILL NOT BE THE SAME AFTER. There will be losses. IF WE HAVE TO ACCEPT THAT THERE WILL BE LOSS OF LIFE, WHY CANT THE UPPER ECHELON ACCEPT THAT THERE WILL BE LOSS OF BUSINESS, BUSINESS AS USUAL, SOCIAL STATUS, RANK. But going on the beloved term of demand and supply, if Cayman is not abundantly AVAILABLE for several months, wont it make it that much more in demand when we do finally open????
All I am saying is there is allot wrong in this country, long before COVID and there are so many different perspectives. The way things are going this country is less and less affordable and attainable for it’s own people, we are going DOWN ANYWAY, with no light in the tunell. Perhaps just perhaps a reset would do us good.
I considered reading your comment 12:08 but the all caps – nah, turned me away
Gee #4,285 post to bash expats, when you need expat $$$ to pay taxes/duties to pay your CIG workers to stay home. Hmnnn…..
I agree with you Troy. Many persons are doing well in the financial services sector (direct and indirect), some (not all) receiving Stipends are making more than they did when they were working (which should be addressed by an increase in Minimum Wage) and the construction sector is booming with the highest prices for Labour and Property we have ever experienced in our development. Others are suffering. Some are selling their Apts and Homes, some businesses are closing and still have financial obligations to Banks and other Lenders, and the tourism sector – from Hotels to Water Sports – will take years to recover, for those that will be able to.
Having said that, I support the Government delaying the opening while we use this incident – that we KNEW was coming – as a “test run” to access our resilience, our resources and our protocols. Fix what needs to fixed. Make some tough decisions like masks for children until they are able to be vaccinated, continue to push for an increase in the vaccination rate, boosters (a big word for a 3rd shot of the vaccine) will be available at the end of September, start working on an increase in the minimum wage and pick an opening date. Unless there is a MAJOR outbreak that we cannot control (which should not happen with a high vaccination rate and a tested plan), we need to accept that we cannot continue to believe we can “out-wait” COVID. I know we are special, but we are part of the global community and we cannot lock ourselves into a bubble – it is not healthy mentally or financially. We need a plan to reopen barring an unwanted and unexpected outbreak which I do not believe will happen if we are ALL doing the right thing. I pray too. And got vaccinated. And ready for my 3rd shot of the vaccine.
Good article Troy but you kind of contradict yourself acknowledging to look for a safe opening in regards to children, health services etc. and then set a definitive date which has so far proven to be an capricious objective. We’ve had the luxury so far as you’ve said observing the pandemic from a distance but we’ve also been afforded the hindsight to learn as well. How about we wait until the New Year when its very likely that children will be eligible for the vaccine removing the last prominent risk and then go full steam from there. We’ve harbored everyone else with compassion up to this point, surely that’s the least we could do as well for the little ones as we hopefully select a gear to go forward.
Covid has been in the community all along. Colds, allergies, sinus infections- remember? People just weren’t getting tested. When the elderly lady went to the hospital and got the positive test, contact tracing started and then people panicked. Those w/ any illness got tested- bingo, more Covid. It’s been in Cayman. It’s been everywhere and it’s no going anywhere.
Time to open the border. No need waiting till 2022- Covid still be here. Go with the original plan.
Good plan 8:53, – lets go all in based on your hunch, – I’m pretty sure if it was in the community all along it would have shown up at the hospital earlier through testing due to suspected/associated symptoms as the lady you mentioned did; but no everyone else was more than likely turned away and given a box of kleenex and a tub of vaporub.
People just aren’t sick enough to go to the hospital and that is why it took so long. How many of the ones in the past week ended up in the hospital? Or did they just get some Kleenex and a tub of vapor rub which they have been doing all along.
I would love to know what Kenneth Bryan’s thoughts are about all this. He wanted his legacy to be getting all unemployed Caymanians back work in tourism ! What a joke, there is no tourism and there won’t be for the next year after this delay. Why would they want to work in this industry after this sh#tshow anyway !
You wanted to reduce the amount of work permit holders on island, was this all part of a plan to try and get rid of them Kenneth ? Be very careful what you wish for !!
True. Why isn’t he focusing on training up a local Tourism workforce in these times??
1:29, That would be a totally wasted effort as Caymanians don’t want to work in tourism. They only want to work in Government.
No point hitting yourself on the head.
True. But most don’t want to read the truth.
No actual arguments
No actual facts
No actual plan
Just conjecture
Sickness for all as long as the few can chase the almighty dollar
No actual arguments
No actual facts
No actual plan
Just conjecture
Absolutely agree with all of your points! It is shockingly incompetent that PACT seemed to make up their reaction to the GTPS cases on the fly.
There should have been lateral flow rapid tests ready. All students in the class or year (if we want to be conservative) test on days 1,3,5 and 7. If negative, stay in school. If positive, go home. It is madness to close an entire school and force the children and their families into a 14-day quarantine.
The approach we are taking is not being done anywhere else in the world. Why not? Because it doesn’t work. The only way to be COVID free is keep our borders closed with a 14-day government quarantine for all – which is simply impossible.
I am disappointed in leadership that they caved to the vocal minority who don’t understand that we have more info now than March 2020 and can put safety measures in place.
PACT should have released a plan in the summer as to what their response would be to community spread. People would have hand a chance to digest it, have their questions answered, etc. Instead, the policies change every day based on whoever makes the most noise.
Mt dear Anonymous 11:49 am,
Since you know everything, why don’t you take over the Premier’s job. That would take care of all our problems! It must be nice being so knowledgable.
He would first need to beat up a woman… Then rob a liquor store… Then stab a counter clerk at Fosters… Then ride a donkey through Boddentown… Then, maybe register to be elected (after paying off enough of the electorate who can’t pass a 3’rd grade Caymanian education).
The new norm to get into a public place. Proof of double vaccination, recent negative covid test OR proof of having had covid. I wonder where our government stands on those who have had covid? How do they count towards our border reopening? Do they even count?
Aaaaarrrrrr let the beatings continue . Don’t you know the only difference between the Govt and the Mafia is size! Poor you Troy griping by appointment trust me when I tell you when this is done Caymanians will finally see benefits of the government’s actions good and bad .
Well put.
“We weren’t ready to open” Absolute BS. Ignore the science, you must be thrilled Dr Lee is leaving us.
You’re deluded along with the government who listen to people’s fear instead of facts.
You keep saying “We, we, we”
No it’s “You” and people like you that have been the problem.
Goodness me, “Now is the time”, “Now is the time” to mandate vaccinations and forced testing of every household. What you’re really saying is become a Fascist State with your thought process. I didn’t even realize you were a medical professional with a Degree in Virology, great let’s go for 90% vaxxed.
So it’s only the Caymanian employees and business owners who have suffered terribly, that statement is just a tad on the xenophobic side, don’t ya think?
done spouting garbage again Mr Mugabe ? glad you managed to construct with getting the ‘Fascist’ sound bite in 🙄
What hysterical nonsense. Put down the phone and go for a walk.
From an outsider’s perspective, it’s not looking good as primary school children are now going back to wearing masks! It really seems like CIG want to hang on until all the tourist businesses are finished, and the hotels are no longer economically viable. Morritt’s resort might hold out a bit longer because the timeshare owners have to carry on paying maintenance fees regardless but even they have started going elsewhere for their holidays now.
timeshare sales are going very well
You couldn’t say it any better. PACT reacted in a state of panic, it is clear as water that they don’t have a plan.
Panton was very confident in saying two weeks prior to the outbreak that we were going to open on the 14th of Oct and to quote his own words “this is the day that COVID will re renter our Island and we will have to adapt”. Only to turn around and say that we are closing for the remaining of the year? Over a small covid outbreak?
Did they spent the past 6 or 7 months working on a plan only to go to waste because there was a few cases? what did they expect that was going to happen in October?
Shameful!
As a close friend of Troy, I really wish Troy would stop putting his 2 cents in this Covid situation.
Troy may have IV league schooling but he knows very little about health and covid in general.
Other boat operations are still operating. Troy doesn’t want to operate his business! Red Sails and other Fishing charters are still going full speed, with covid the fishing is better than ever.
Troy operates on very expensive charters $500-$1000+ ranges which are directed at ultra-rich people, not for Caymanians. He docks his boat at Camana Bay, doesn’t want to use cheaper harbors.
Take this my personal opinion, but Troy doesn’t know what he’s talking about and all he has in mind is covering himself and his business. He doesn’t care about other people and he never will.
As having multiple posts on CNS with hundreds of comments, I really wish that CNS would stop promoting Troy.
I could go on and make numerous points about Troy’s character and business operations but honestly, adding this comment is degrading enough as it is.
Thanks for reading, what its worth.
Close friend?
I’m glad you are “close friend” can’t imagine what someone who doesn’t like Troy would say after reading your shite comment.
They had no real plan. They had a series of dates with unachievable objectives. That’s it. This government is smoke and mirrors. They are Divided, incompetent and irrational. God help us.
Troy, with friends like this who needs enemies!
I think the writer may want to check with Red Sail and the “other fishing charters” before making that statement. I doubt very much that they are “going at full speed”.
With friends like these…
Closer than you would think to believe.
@Anonymous “IV league level fool” 11:24am Who are you?
If you’re a “close friend” to my brother, you would know what he has done over the course of the pandemic for his sector, how he helped inform our people during the election, dissected fact from fiction to bring clarity to the port debacle and, you would never conceive of him as uncaring.
You would know he is an honourable man, a hero and inspiration to his friends and family.
I hope that you represent your family in day to day life better than this shameful, baseless foolishness.
Agree, disagree, or stay neutral, but your personal attack does no one any good, and only makes you look like you’re here to stir the pot and lick the spoon, not actually give any real contribution to cooking or serving the meal.
Almost every other comment here, even the most critical of his piece, offer some perspective, numbers or counterpoint. You’re just being insulting and untruthful. I’m sure Troy doesn’t give a fig, but I won’t let you just say things like this about my family and skate away.
Offer solutions, suggestions, questions and/ or perspective or go sit down back over by your “close friends” in the “IV” league, where tour businesses are running “full speed”. Not sure where that is, but it isn’t “reality”.
My brother puts his perspective out there to spark discussion and proudly adds his name to his ideas.
I proudly do the same as him, ready to debate, discuss and learn.
That’s why I’m sure you’re not a close friend of his – he doesn’t have friends who are Anonymous “IV” league level fools with a Pee H D!
We should prepare civil service for cuts to their pay to help with government budget and funding stipends continuing…OR just prepare to re-open sooner.
And contributions to their healthcare and pension plans.
Or we bring in some taxes and pivot the tourism to Americans with more than 10 days holidays and once they have quarantined they can enjoy a covid free existence for a few weeks
Most Americans do not have more than 10 days of holidays in a stretch except for teachers in the summer months or those who are retired.
They could have at least allowed to open for Christmas holidays, those few days would have brought so much needed relief. What difference does it make if community spread started in October? Was the reopening plan based on 0 transmission before October?And so they decided to hide even longer. Vaccines are obviously working and if I understand anything, initial cases were found by chance. Correct me if I am wrong.
So why are we not opening? What are we going to have in January that we don’t have right now? A few more people vaccinated ???
Mental health will be better with a October or November opening date so family and friends can rejoin each other for the holidays and have notice to book flights and accommodations.
” we needed to re-enter the world of COVID…COVID has re-entered our world.” Agree 100%
“Now is the time…..” Disagree with your proposal to turn the territory into a dystopian penal colony.
NO to mandates of any kind
NO to “strengthen our quarantine system and enforcement”
NO to “widespread rapid testing in every household”
NO to ” drive our vaccination rate … to 90% of our population”
NO to dividing of cayman society
NO to fear driven decisions
YES to common sense
A territory, country, city, town, village, county or an island is “not ready” when their health care facilities have limited capacity to treat COVID and other patients. An adequate space, staff, equipment, supplies and effective logistics management is what determines READINESS.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: September 17, 2021 (FDA)
• the FDA issued a Letter to Health Care Providers to alert clinical laboratory staff and health care providers about the potential for false positive results with Abbott Alinity m SARS-CoV-2 AMP and Alinity m Resp-4-Plex AMP Kits.
Wow! Can’t fix stupid.
Agreed, except that it may be too late for the Christmas vacation season. Travelers are looking to other warm weather destinations. If travelers were planning on Cayman this year, after the recent announcement they are most likely going somewhere else. Even an immediate reversal in policy would not likely be enough for travelers to count on Cayman for travel this year. A side note: the community transmission “surprise” may have been just what is needed to get more people willing to vaccinate and also demonstrate that this virus is not (at least to date) the end of the world.
Troy I could not agree with you more. we have been living as though Covid is in another world, not ours. We need to wake up and move on – like the rest of the world has. The govt is burying its head in the sand and hoping covid will go away – STOP DREAMING WAKE UP GOVT. COVID IS NOT GOING ANYWHERE. And to those people who keep saying lives over money – well I hope they are the ones who will step up and subsidize all those people out of work who cant pay their bills, buy food etc. Stop being so self centred!
You must have been already prepared for borders reopening. 18 months was enough time to prepare.
Govt need to reopen the borders covid ain’t going anywhere we will have to learn to live with covid not covid live with us . We have achieved a very high vaccination rate , yes there is currently a community spread get it under control and then review a reopen for the middle of November . Business are being destroyed , people livelihood is gone to the dogs. Our borders have been closed almost 19 months now and our govt still don’t have a reopening plan . This is a shame & disgrace, the little stipend they pay some people do you think people can continue living off this how much longer . Open the blasted borders you have vaccinated population higher than everywhere else . Government is just failing the people & businesses. Put safety protocols in place covid will come here even the vaccinated travelers will bring it here ,just get out of this bubble cayman is in to think that covid is going anywhere not right now anyway .
We could have been ready months ago!
As a person in the tourism industry I have seen hundreds of bookings canceled and people’s comments when canceling are not positive.
Even this morning on client says how can we make any plans, your own Cayman Airline does not know what it’s doing and has multiple flights and n November onwards.
After I visited Cayman Airways website there it is multiple flights a day from November, do they know something we don’t OR is it selling ghost flights!
Most of our clients have booked other islands that are open and we have now lost them for another year if not forever.
I spoke directly with cayman air and they said they were not ghost flights and to go ahead and book. Now it may just a way to lock in some cash from me, will see.
I will not book a flight under these terms. Going elsewhere this high season.
So so so true. Emotionally we were never ready. And at this rate we will never be. Time to face some harsh ugly truths.
Get Vaccinated:
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/09/20/politics/biden-administration-international-travel-restrictions/index.html
The United States plans to ease travel restrictions on all fully vaccinated foreign visitors starting in November, White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said Monday.
“Beginning in early November, foreign nationals flying to the United States will be required to be fully vaccinated — fully vaccinated and they must show proof of vaccination prior to boarding a US-bound airplane
….And….
Excellent piece Troy. Unfortunately, everyone prefers to run around like Chicken Little, the sky is falling rather than being sensible about a reopening plan.
You know chicken little was right in the end tho? In the end I don’t care what you all do just wanted to make a joke. Night Night.
You know chicken little was right in the end tho? Lol
Well-considered and well put. I personally would like to wait until younger children have access to the vaccine and at-risk residents are able to get their boosters. We have just seen how rapidly it spreads among children. And boosters are especially important on our islands because many people were vaccinated at least 8 months ago.
We had 18 months to prepare. The time to open has come and gone.
So Bermuda, Jamaica, St Vincent and the list goes on…..
Have they had positive reopening experiences?
Are we really ready?
They currently don’t even have bus service in Bermuda because too many of the staff are sick or quarantined.
Any Turks open the longest and all is good!
They also still have a beach…we should be carful.
Please shut the duck up about Bermuda.
No one cares.
Sorry, I do care.
Well said – I would say that the majority in Cayman are ready, but just a small vocal minority aren’t, which are holding the rest of us hostage. From a scientific point of view, we are most definitely ready.
With news of Rum Point closing, and I’m sure other businesses to follow, the government has to reconsider their decision to delay opening until next year, else the recovery of this island will be set back years!
Spot on. People are going to love their stays in Paradise where they can visit the same half a dozen bars / restaurants after the rest closed down.
I can see the tripadvisor comments now “Run down with nothing to do outside of the hotel, beachfront hotel with no beach, building sites everywhere and I paid 14 days hotel stay quarantine to find all this out – would not recommend”
If our millionaire businessmen want to close their Rum Point cruise-ship tourist-factory now, rather than continue keeping it somewhat open to locals, then what does that really say about them as stakeholders? Their independent business decision is only coincident with government policy. They were just looking for an excuse to switch off their own faucets and furlough their employees, just like many others – and not because they need to.
Amen- and when they reopen, I hope you, like myself, will pay them back with the same support – NONE! They are trying to force government with threats so they can line their pockets…. Let them close. We will remember and respond when they reopen. #dontsupporttheclosed
I couldn’t agree with you more Troy, well said!
cig for the past 8 weeks had a re-opening plan based on likely communinity cases/transmission?
why did they drop the plan? that is the only question.
Cry me a river. Listen to those in charge
I challenge Mr. Panton to watch his last news conference and decide if even he would vote for himself again. And I like the guy!
Sounds like you’re happily surviving on handouts and have no idea what others are facing.
Those in charge should be listening to what the majority want – over 70% of respondents to a recent poll disagreed with the gov’t decision.
Please, STOP.
If you are not ready after almost T W O Y E A R S, what were you doing then?
Tip: stay under your bed FOREVER !
AND: stop being afraid of LIVING !