Supermarket & food servers among 53 new COVID cases

| 18/10/2021 | 283 Comments

(CNS): Forty-two new community transmissions of SARS-CoV-2 were recorded over the weekend along with 11 cases in travellers in quarantine, after more than 1,600 tests were carried out, pushing the current active cases of the virus to 226. In addition to a staff member at the West Bay Post Office, CNS has learned there were supermarket employees and servers from other food outlets among the 53 people testing positive over the last two days, as well as 19 more children.

Just two people with COVID have been admitted to hospital but well over half of those currently infected,136 people, have symptoms. No details have been given regarding the status of the two people currently hospitalized with COVID-19. While one is assumed to be the patient who was admitted on 8 September for other reasons, officials have said nothing about the condition or age of the latest individual.

According to Chief Medical Officer Dr John Lee, 14 of the new cases were in vaccinated people. He also revealed that genomic sequencing of eleven random samples taken from community transmissions and travellers from individuals with higher viral loads were all infected with the Delta variant.

Another 68 people got the first dose of the vaccine on Saturday and 119 people got their second. Booster shots, which are being offered to those over 60, healthcare workers and the clinically vulnerable, have been given to 1,136 people.

Meanwhile, although some families have been released early from isolation as a result of the rapid test pilot among those impacted by the school outbreaks, there are still 1,555 people currently in quarantine. 1,500 of them are not positive but isolating as a primary contacts of someone who is.

However, the HSA said Monday evening that more households will be able to join in the pilot tomorrow. Testing will take place again at the John Gray High School Gymnasium.

This testing is for ‘negative’ households only.  Student households where someone is negative have been contacted directly by Public Health to schedule an appointment time for the entire household.

  • John Gray High School 7DJ (testing appointments 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm)
  • First Baptist Y1 (testing appointments 3pm – 4pm) 
  • First Baptist Y4 (testing appointments 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm)
  • Clifton Hunter High School 9G3 (testing appointments 6pm – 7:30pm)
  • Clifton Hunter High School 9C3 (testing appointments 8pm – 9:30pm)
  • Other families who are in quarantine directly related to these classes (testing available 1:00 pm -9:30 pm)

See the vaccine schedule on the HSA website here.

For more information on vaccines contact the HSA Communications team at
communications@hsa.ky

See here for more information on securely verifiable vaccination records.

Anyone with flu symptoms is urged to stay at home in the first instance and contact the 24 hour Flu Hotline or your general practitioner to speak to a health professional about those symptoms before visiting the flu or testing clinic.

Flu Hotline: 1-800-534-8600 or 345-947-3077 or 345-925- 6327 or email flu@hsa.ky
Callers will be screened for travel history and advised on what to do next.


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Category: Health, Medical Health

Comments (283)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    This is not good. Is reopening the right idea now?

    • Anonymous says:

      Clearly not but it is what the business owners who form the real government want, so it is likely that the elected government will do what they are told.

    • Anonymous says:

      Yes, it is definitely the right idea.

  2. Anonymous says:

    COVID-19 has had an incredible effect on the world. From my perspective, the most profound development is the polarization that has been created between people. There is now a clear line of demarcation that has never previously been visible in the history of mankind.
    It is as though there are 2 species of humans, each species with a totally different and incompatible moral compass.

    One one hand, you have the group who have totally bought into COVID-19 and its unwritten rules that vaccines are necessary, the unvaccinated are selfish and it is necessary to follow government advice including vaccination mandates.

    On the other hand, you have the group that believe that COVID-19 is a total crock and the governments and the mainstream media have colluded to lie and coerce. This group absolutely refuse to have anything to do with the vaccine.

    As time progresses, this separation will become even more pronounced and there will be no more homogenization in the human race. The oil and water will be totally obvious.

    These two “races” are totally incompatible. Interestingly, this is not related to skin colour, politics, religion or culture as there are both types of people across all these demographies.

    It is as though two types of people who are mutually incompatible have been “seeded” throughout the globe and as with all seeds, there is a time of growth leading to a harvest. It is only at harvest time that the final fruit is fully recogniseable.

    This division has become so sharp that members of the same households are now at odds with each other, some even refusing to talk to one another or be civil over their position on the COVID-19 issue.

    Almost certainly, the next crisis to perfect the polarization will be yet another issue that will be presented as affecting all the inhabitants of the earth regardless of demography. That crisis will be Climate Change and the zeal of its proponents will be so intense that they will actually allow themselves to be physically and indelibly marked to distinguish them from the deniers and haters of this planet in which we all have to live.

    The only acceptable solution will be presented as a reduction in the amount of carbon dioxide that each entity produces, namely businesses, processes and even individuals. Every source of carbon dioxide production will be identified and subject to the Global Carbon Tax in an attempt to reduce emissions.

    Unfortunately, every human being will produce carbon dioxide until they are dead, so a dilemma awaits us.

    Thanks for your time.

    • Anonymous says:

      You might not think so, but your bias is clearly showing and I’m sure you an avid viewer of Fox News.

      • Anonymous says:

        Sorry, I do not consume Fox, CNN, BBC or any other outlet as truth.
        Truth is truth.

      • mark says:

        Why does someone in every thread claim a differing or common sense or freedom and individual liberty comes from People who watch Fox News! First off, being like Nazi germany is not an option. Two, MSNBC, CNN, ABC etc are all former democrat operatives and hve spent 5 years lying about Russia collusion….

        My question is….WHY are you STILL watching CNN? All they do is lie and divide.

    • Anonymous says:

      It’s ok though as one “race” or group of people stand a much greater chance of surviving so the winners of the conflict will be the ones who remain no? To the victors the spoils..

    • Anonymous says:

      With over 90% of our eligible population vaccinated, it’s just a tiny minority of people who have refused to get vaccinated. The vast majority of people don’t care what the unvaccinated think and just want to get on with things.

      • Anonymous says:

        You think it is that high and government would love you to believe that.
        It may be that high among the upwardly mobile, rich expats, but I can assure you from someone who inhabits ground level, if it is even 50% that is a favourable estimate.

        • Jotnar says:

          I see. So government is lying about the numbers of doses administered. because if they aren’t, then you cant really argue with the percentages can you? Even if you say their estimate of population is wrong and its 565K rather than 71, that doesn’t get you anywhere near your 50:50. Just because your social circle is 50% vaccinated doesn’t mean that applies to the population generally, and again, unless they are lying about the numbers or administering triple and quadruple doses to the same people, its just possible that you live in a small bubble of unvaccinated people that doesn’t reflect the general population.

      • Anonymous says:

        @1:59pm ..Amen and thank you!

    • Anonymous says:

      Contrary to your views, this issue has become politicized. If you sit in the US you will know that if you are a democrat then you most likely support the vaccine and if you are a republican you don’t. Here in Cayman, this issue is becoming politicized as the opposition only position is to oppose anything the government proposes on this issue. Open the borders – PPM opposes. Close the borders – PPM opposes. Implement a mandate – PPM opposes, reduce quarantine – PPM opposes, increase quarantine – PPM opposes and it goes on and on. It is truly exhausting.

      • Anonymous says:

        @3:10pm..couldn’t have said it better..opposition for opposition sake. Every time I hear there is going to be a press conference, I know these PPM’ers will be out with some foolishness.

      • Mark says:

        It is by design…even Canada military admitted to considering psychological warfare on its citizens! They said no….however, that has not stopped the political class. There is no way ANY of this is normal political commentary from leaders to purposely reject one group….the Nazis did it.

    • Anonymous says:

      NO WAY is it as cut and dry as 2 positions.
      I do not fit in either and there are SO many more like me.

      I do NOT deny that COVID-19 is a total crock. But I do agree that governments and the mainstream media have colluded to lie and coerce!!

      I can’t believe I live in a world where you are not allowed to have an idea or opinion against the first group of people that you describe. To the point of discrediting reputable DOCTORS that do not agree with everything that the media is putting out there, wherever that comes from … CNS included. Even Sandra is on board the wagon of not allowing anything go against what she believes in.

      Weirdly, as many of my friends are vaccinated, only a small handful of those argue and cajole me. Most respect my choice and the majority wouldn’t have gotten the vaccine if they hadn’t been forced to by peer pressure and media, but more importantly, to be able to travel and “protect” their elderly and small children.

      And then another ‘friend’ said they did it to protect EVERYONE, like of course I want everyone to die… duh

      You people just keep seeing all of this in black and white with no variation and see what that does for you.

      And isn’t it funny, those that want to have their own choice respect those that did it out of compulsion and fear. I don’t give them any flack for getting the vaccine. But you should see what I’m thinking in my head! Lol

  3. Anonymous says:

    And the tourism/business sector wins again by having thousands of new permits granted while not training or preparing locals to fill jobs
    Never even tried; except to whip out the tired excuse..Locals don’t want this work.
    The Minimum Wage Review Committee is also predictably Silent.
    This continued unemployment will make for an interesting Christmas

    • Anonymous says:

      Re-opening has nothing to do with work for Caymanians. It is about dividends for the owners and the risk of illness and death for the rest of us.

      • Anonymous says:

        And the UK today announced another massive number of Cases , with the possibility of another lockdown.
        With less than 40 ICU beds in Cayman, opening our borders means our government is playing Russian roulette with our lives.

    • Anonymous says:

      The old tired excuse – which gets repeated so often because its the truth. Locals don’t want the work. Show me the hundreds of complaints filed with WORC about tourism, food and beverage work permits. Nah. Caymanians dont want that work – at least, not at those prices and those working hours.

      • Anonymous says:

        Most Expats/guest workers know and say that tourism and other wages and conditions are “Slavery”.
        Fix it or it will fix you back.
        Noone deserves this in super rich Cayman.
        Thousands will soon have stipends ended or continue with social welfare handouts — vs. Livable wages.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Nothing new here. This is what happens when only foreigners are vaccinated and locals feel COVID free, whether it happens here in Cayman or any other country with the same ignoramuses and politicians alike

  5. Anonymous says:

    WHY has the CIG not set an opening date?
    Turks and Caicos has been open for over a year AND they have less cases per day than us.
    It make no sense to stay shut anymore this is crazy, so of us need to work!

    • Anonymous says:

      TCI – half the population and 10X the death rate – excellent example to follow.

      https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/turks-and-caicos-islands/

      • Anonymous says:

        TCI had deaths because they opened 16 months ago 6 months before a vaccine.

        Clearly they are a good example as their daily infection rate is less than ours!

        • Anonymous says:

          TCI has had more deaths since August, well after vaccines were made available, than Cayman has had in total. Take a look at the time distribution in the link.

    • Anonymous says:

      TCI has a vaccine passport system and a night curfew as well as 10 times the deaths with half the population.

      Here is a link to the TCI regs.

      https://www.gov.tc/moh/coronavirus/regulations

    • Anonymous says:

      Do you want to have the vaccine passport system and night curfew that TCI has? How about the death rate that is 10 times what it is in Cayman? Do you want that too??

      • Anonymous says:

        A vaccine passport system wouldn’t bother me at all. All of the deaths in T&C were unvaccinated that made their choice.

        • Anonymous says:

          Harsh comment – some died before the vaccine was available but I suppose in your world that was their fault too.

      • Anonymous says:

        Vaccine Passport are being used all of the world now and they are effective. I just got back from Canada and it is such an easy system and has brought down the covid cases. If you want to go restaurants or places where the vaccine is required, you have a simple QR code on your phone, each business has a scanner or some do it via a IPAD or Tablet and off you go to enjoy yourself..

  6. Anonymous says:

    It’s about time the Supermarkets stopped the self serve buffet counters. They are a well known risk for infection. No one wears gloves when handling utensils and many have not sanitized their hands. There should only be buffets where staff serve the customer. Minister Turner please restrict the self serve food venues.

    • Anonymous says:

      Excellent point – I’ll have some salad with a side of Covid.

      • Anonymous says:

        I would be more worried about the other diseases that are more readily transmitted by touching contaminated surfaces or ingesting contaminated food. Salad with a side of herpes a way more realistic threat.

    • Anonymous says:

      I use a napkin to handle the utensils. Going to always do it now when I realize how many years I was touching those after others.

    • Anonymous says:

      you are more than free to not use this. What is this craze with wanting to shut down everything because 1 person doesn’t like it. Always asking big daddy government to stop other people doing something you don’t approve of.

      This has been going on for decades at this point. Since I was a kid in the 90’s, self serve was happening. During the swine flu scare, did you ask for them to be shut down?

      People are ridiculously germaphobic now, on top of authoritarian.

    • Anonymous says:

      well known?…please provide your evidence.
      covid has been found to be very hard to transmit via surface contact. do your research.
      by your logic…people should not be able to touch anything in supermarkets,,,should cash be banned?

      • Anonymous says:

        Cruise ships. Check out how many Norovirus outbreaks there have been on cruise ships where the all you can eat buffet is common place. Its not that buffets are particularly unhygienic its that people don’t wash their hands.

        If we are trying to limit the spread of Covid then surely the self service buffets should be stopped for a while.

    • Anonymous says:

      So the infected employee can serve? “You pays your money, and you takes your chances”, son.

    • Anonymous says:

      They spray your mitts when you walk in. People should also use the hand sanitizers but I’m sure the construction workers don’t bother.

      • Anonymous says:

        They don’t even bother washing their hands after they go potty.

      • Anonymous says:

        Very racist comment.
        I’ve worked in major office buildings and the numbers of white collar staff who dont wash their hands after restroom is shocking.

    • Anonymous says:

      Is this the man that ruined the buffet at the Beverly Hills Hotel ?

  7. Anonymous says:

    Amazing how all these people care about everyone all the sudden. Nobody seems to care about endangering me, children, the elderly or the vulnerable when they’re all driving like jackasses every single day. I don’t even want to hear about this covid nonsense anymore! Start by driving like lives friggin matter- that’s what’s really killing us. Funny how everyone is all about community in the name of covid but there is 0 community feeling anywhere here- all there is is stress, aggression and recklessness. Stop this act.

  8. Anonymous says:

    CNS, can you clarify the person admitted way back at the start for non covid condition, but found to have covid, have they still got covid after all this time? That is testing positive.

    CNS:
    Yes.

  9. Anonymous says:

    I am betting that government is going to pick the re-opening date demanded by the hotel owners – or perhaps a day or so earlier to try to fool us into believing that they are ‘independent’.

  10. Anonymous says:

    we need to stop all this testing or better yet publish fake results in which everyone feels terrific. If there was no testing no one would get sick, no one would get hospitalized and no one would die. That is science – ignore the problem and everything little ting gunna be alright and the tourist dollars going to flow into everybody’s pockets.

  11. Sonia says:

    Bring back the Dart bio button. It’s the only thing that can save us now.

  12. Anonymous says:

    For those preaching the false news that an end to quarantine will bring increase airlift that will justify the illness, hospitalizations and death from Covid – read this item on Jet Blue pulling out of Bermuda after its Covid death rate soared

    https://www.royalgazette.com/tourism/news/article/20211019/no-direct-boston-flights-from-november/

    • Anonymous says:

      It says they are stopping their Boston to Bermuda flights, not all JetBlue flights. Also it doesn’t say that they are doing this because of deaths related to covid. There is just not enough demand for that route.

      • Anonymous says:

        Possibly because people do not want to fly to a place on the CDC’s Covid red list where there is a night time curfew to try to bring Covid under control.

      • Anonymous says:

        More likely because Boston is cooling down and people there will be wanting to fly to warmer climates than Bermuda.

      • Anonymous says:

        And why do you think there’s no demand, genius?

        • Anonymous says:

          I live in Boston and I would travel to Bermuda covid or no covid, but would not travel to Bermuda from November-May because that location is too cold for me on holiday. Bermuda is one of my favorite locations in the world, but they are cool after November.

  13. Anonymous says:

    I noted in yesterday’s Covid news release from government that boosters had only been given to 6% of those at increased risk. It is looking like government is going to end quarantine leaving these people at risk. So much for mitigation. So much for health over profits.

    • Anonymous says:

      No matter what the number of cases, this is all you need to remember. Get vaccinated. Wear a mask when you can’t social distance. Wash your hands.
      Do not stress over cases- most are just asymptomatic cases that are scary, but the real number to stress are how many in the hospital or dying.
      High vaccination rate equals low hospital rate / chance of dying.

      • Anonymous says:

        Between 15 and 20% of the 50 plus people dying of Covid in Bermuda in the last few weeks are fully vaccinated.

        • Anonymous says:

          Yes, but about 70% of the population is vaccinated. If the vaccination was ineffective then 70% of deaths would be vaccinated people. But only 15% – 20% are, which means that you are 3.5x to 4.7x more likely to die if you haven’t been vaccinated

        • Anonymous says:

          Yes but Bermuda’s chief medical officer said that all of those people were very ill with multiple organ failure and teetering on the edge of death already. It’s still really terrible but we should at least be honest. Otherwise it just seems like you are trying to scare people.

          • Anonymous says:

            I am sure that for the families of those fully vaccinated individuals who died, even if they had other conditions, the fact that but for Covid their loved one might have lived a year or 2 longer, is what is important.

        • Anonymous says:

          Did people dislike this because its false or because its an inconvenient truth?

      • Anonymous says:

        Dude – increasing cases preceded increasing hospitalizations in every wave all over the planet; similarly increasing hospitalizations precede increasing deaths in every wave all over the planet. I agree with telling people to get vaccinated but telling them increasing cases is nothing to pay attention to is just plain wrong.

        • Anonymous says:

          I’ve lived and worked in a high covid district thru the whole pandemic. Got vaccinated, wear a mask, social distance, wash my hands and feel like I am as safe as i can be in a world with covid. I’m not going to hide my life away or stress it away. I follow the protocols and continue to live, work and travel.

      • Anonymous says:

        The government has no idea of what the vulnerable population really is eligible for a booster. I’m receiving an immunosuppressive drug used to treat cancer and HSA has no record of it. Luckily I didn’t get too much hassle when I showed up for a booster with a note from my GP. You would have to be living under a rock to not know how to take care of yourself by now. I say end the quarantine now. Its already all over the island. This is shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted. Time to move on with our lives.

      • Anonymous says:

        Where did you get your degree in epidemiology? The chamber of commerce college?

  14. Anonymous says:

    On the subject of re-infection –

    “As Covid-19 infections surge in England, people are increasingly reporting catching Sars-CoV-2 for a second or even third time.

    New analysis has suggested that unvaccinated individuals should expect to be reinfected with Covid-19 every 16 months, on average.

    With winter approaching, scientists are warning that such reinfections could add to the burden on the NHS, some calling for the vaccination programme to be extended to all schoolchildren, including two doses for teenagers.

    “If you’ve got high-level prevalence, and frequent exposure to the virus, as you have in schools, you are going to see more and more people getting reinfected despite having been double vaccinated,” said Stephen Griffin, associate professor of virology at the University of Leeds.”

    • Anonymous says:

      3:00 pm “despite having been double vaccinated”

      • Anonymous says:

        From the same post –
        “New analysis has suggested that unvaccinated individuals should expect to be reinfected with Covid-19 every 16 months, on average.”

  15. Anonymous says:

    Which supermarkets?

  16. Anonymous says:

    Useful news –

    “The Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine is 93% effective in preventing hospitalisation among 12-18-year-olds, according to new research by the US government.

    The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study was conducted between June and September when Delta was the most dominant variant, reports Reuters.”

  17. Anonymous says:

    We need the business people who are actually governing us to hold a press conference to tell us what the business people are telling government to do. That is the only way we will know what is going to happen. Having to listen to the foolishness coming from a government press conference is a complete waste of time. I would prefer to hear from those actually making the decisions.

    • Anonymous says:

      Agreed. Tired of hearing from the puppet. I want to hear from the puppet master what trick the puppet will perform.

  18. Anonymous says:

    In yet another living with Covid success story –

    “New coronavirus infections in the Netherlands have soared by 44% in the last week, forcing multiple hospitals to make cuts to regular care to deal with Covid cases.

    The number of people with coronavirus were at their highest level since July in the last week with 25,751 cases, reports Reuters.

    The country recorded 48 coronavirus deaths in the same period – twice as many as the previous week – and hospital admissions rose by one-fifth.”

  19. Anonymous says:

    More on living with Covid – or not

    “The UK has reported its highest number of Covid deaths for seven months, with 223 deaths recorded within 28 days of a positive test for the virus.

    The daily death rate, which has not been as high since 9 March, brought the weekly toll to 911, a near-15% rise on the week… daily hospitalisations continued to rise, reaching 921, up 10% on the week.

    • Anonymous says:

      But these are unvaccinated people…most had the choice!

    • AWED says:

      Yes but Britain is led by a vain politician who puts popularity with The Telegraph and Red Wall Voters before simple steps to keep infections down, scubas masks and vaccine passports. He was happy to “let the bodies pile up” because “most of the dead are over 80”. Nice chap.

    • Anonymous says:

      People should not be intimidated by the UK’s high death rate. A few weeks after quarantine is dropped our per capita hospitalization and death rates will likely be far higher.

      • Anonymous says:

        How much your condo rent for?

        • Anonymous says:

          More without quarantine and the occupancy rate will be better when quarantine is dropped. Why the hell do you think we are pushing so hard for ending quarantine? It is all about the Benjamin’s.

          • Anonymous says:

            If you think dropping quarantine is your big economic obstacle, you have no idea what is on the horizon.

            When China’s $4 trillion debt default virus starts to hit the global markets on Saturday, Benjamin won’t even give you the time of day. What an idiot….

    • Anonymous says:

      The stupidity of the UKs reporting – “The UK has reported its highest number of Covid deaths for seven months, with 223 deaths recorded within 28 days of a positive test for the virus.” – is only surpassed by the stupidity of those that cannot see the problem with their statistic.

      They say “Covid deaths” but then in fine print say “All cause deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid test”… translated – Deaths WITH Covid – not Caused BY Covid.

      That has been a major problem since the beginning and it is just perpetuated. They don’t give you the actual numbers of deaths that are directly attributable TO Covid. It would paint a radically different picture.

      Before you post your knee-jerk reaction responses, I sincerely hope you will read through it again and think about it with an open mind. Why aren’t they just giving you the accurate information that would help you to make fully informed decisions?

      • Anonymous says:

        Thank you – I agree with you that Covid does not exist or at least it was caused by the alien lizard people who took over Bill Gates body (Yuch) and put microchips into the vaccines and gave those vaccines to news reporters all over the world so that they would all spread fake news suggesting that Covid is real. We should meet – we are obviously on the same wavelength (once our tin hats are removed).

        • Beaumont Zodecloun says:

          Nobody believes your improvised conspiracy theory view, but hey, that shouldn’t stop you from trying to splash it upon virtually everyone that disagrees with you.

        • Anonymous says:

          That’s not what 4.36pm is saying at all, and you know it. Death with covid is far different from death from covid.

      • Anonymous says:

        The Office for National Statistics weekly death registrations data for England and Wales are based on the cause of death reported on the death certificate, thereby not restricted to only deaths that showed a positive test. Contrary to your fake news misinformation, they do publish stats weekly (downloadable as a very detailed spreadsheet) that gives numbers of deaths where the underlying cause of death is listed as Covid 19. You just have to have a desire to speak truth rather than spouting off ignorant tin hat tripe.

        • Anonymous says:

          Yes – they do! And that is wonderful. But I expect that you are in the extreme minority of people who skip over the news media reporting and go to the source. Where the majority consume their information is from the news media – which uses the numbers that are “with Covid” not “from Covid”.

          And to be crystal clear – the “from Covid” numbers for the UK (from the ONS) are actually pretty high percentage of the “with Covid” numbers.

          The questions still remains – why report the “with Covid” number – especially if you have the “from Covid” number available???

          CNS: ONS – The coronavirus (COVID-19) was responsible for the majority of excess deaths in 2020
          “Deaths “due to COVID-19″ are deaths registered in England and Wales where COVID-19 was the underlying (main) cause on the death certificate.”

          “The new coronavirus (COVID-19) was the underlying cause of almost 74,000 deaths in 2020. Despite the first death only being registered in the week ending 13 March, it became the overall leading cause of death in England and Wales in 2020.

          The total number of deaths not due to COVID-19 in 2020 (534,000) was only slightly higher than the average for 2015 to 2019 (532,000) in England and Wales.”

          • Anonymous says:

            The question does not remain if you have any modicum of critical thinking skills. To be statistically relevant and clear as to morbidities that either caused or possibly contributed to the death, most death certificates list a chain of morbidities. It is usually headed by the primary underlying cause of death if known or suspected and then includes the co-morbidities which were present and which likely contributed to the fatality. The CNS notes do a good job of countermanding your deficient presentation of the facts. Thank you CNS.

    • Hubert says:

      Bigger problem in the U.K. the past week is the new COVID variant which might be tougher than Delta. They believe some of the deaths were from the new variant.

  20. Anonymous says:

    Still no one is being hospitalized in cayman while in some countries people are being hospitalized and dying even with a high vaccination rate. Is it too early or it is the vaccine.
    The happenings in Cayman is quite interesting from my perspective.
    Cayman is a beautiful place and good people are here.

    • Anonymous says:

      Totally agree with most of what you wrote but you missed the point in the 2nd paragraph, 2nd sentence of this article:

      “No details have been given regarding the status of the two people currently hospitalized with COVID-19.”

    • Anonymous says:

      Dear “no one is being hospitalized”,

      Even in this “closed” status we have hospitalisations from Covid. Right now there’s a lady who has unfortunately been admitted for a few weeks now – and we had an infant admitted and thankfully released last week. There will be a predictable surge in admissions when we truly “reopen”. We should expect our ratios to line up with other places as viral mobility increases.

      • Anonymous says:

        The admission of the lady was not from Covid and the infants were admitted and release quickly, this may have been out of an abundance of caution given that they were out within days. That is not a serious case of Covid-19.

      • Anonymous says:

        The lady wasn’t admitted for Covid reasons, please stop trying to mislead everyone.

  21. Anonymous says:

    Still some people without any understanding of the real world posting on here. Clearly it’s people who are anti-vax, never leave island and living off a free stipend that want to keep quarantine for vaxed.

    Let’s look at the facts:

    1. COVID is never going away
    2. regardless of lockdowns, border closure or not, we would always get community spread.
    3. We have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world
    4. If you are vaccinated it’s extremely unlikely you get every sick or die.
    5. The longer you try and stay closed and prevent inevitable community spread, which is unpreventable, the more youd elay the process.

    Therefore there is no valid reason or justification for not dropping this mask mandate and ending quarantine for vaccinated arrivals.

    What we should do is mandate the vaccine for all front lien workers, HSA staff, teachers etc., and have vaccine passports for all supermarkets, shops, banks, the cinema etc., if people are that worried.

    • Anonymous says:

      This comment is the new morph of Covid deniers/trolls who advocate that common sense public health considerations and the rest of science should be ignored and that we should aim for maximum infection rates.

    • Anonymous says:

      Agreed!
      I vote you go and take over for the Premier ASAP!

    • Anonymous says:

      Something being unlikely is probability not fact. And again with the ‘covid never going away’. How is this a fact?

      • Anonymous says:

        11:58,everything are only for a time , everything passes away in time.

      • Anonymous says:

        I think it’s a fair assumption that Covid isn’t going away when the 1918 Spanish flu is still with us. It might be a different strain, less dangerous, more dangerous, who knows, just that it’s not going to go away. The Spanish flu (H1N1) has mutated over the past 100 years and had a hand in most, if not all the pandemics since then. Covid will likely become a seasonal flu with similar traits.

        • Anonymous says:

          Homer – “flu” is a short form of the word “influenza”. The Influenza virus and the corona virus known as Sars – CoV-2 virus are not even in the same class of virus, so no Covid will not become a seasonal flu.

        • Anonymous says:

          Thank you, Dr. Limbaugh

    • Courtney Platt says:

      10:05am commenter has ignored the impending approval of the Pfizer vaccine for 12yrs-5yr olds by purporting that there is no reason to delay opening without quarantine for the vaccinated arrivals. This is the single biggest reason for us to delay dropping the quarantine at least until we can vaccinate those children who will soon be permitted the vaccine. Even then, we will still be concerned for the babies, but at least we will have protected a much larger number of our precious children. I want to wait until this next age group has been vaccinated (Yes, I have an 8 year old).

      • Anonymous says:

        I am more concerned about giving children this vaccine than them catching covid (if they haven’t already had it), time to use critical thinking…..

      • Anonymous says:

        I understand your point but I wonder how many parents will be willing to get their kids vaccinated. It might not make much of a difference if a lot of parents won’t get their kids vaccinated anyway.

    • Anonymous says:

      Until vaccinations are approved for school-aged kids, we have very “valid reasons” for keeping quarantine regulations. This is not just about protecting younger children, but also about protecting adults that they can infect.

  22. Anonymous says:

    This week we were promised we would be given an opening date (ie, a date when vaccinated arrivals do not quarantine).

    They are quaking in their boots in cabinet right now!

    They will announce a date, say end of November. And cases will build up between now and then (hopefully not, but we have never had a “wave” yet).

    • Anonymous says:

      A truly idiotic idea based on the pursuit of the dollar instead of using facts and science and history from other countries.

    • Sheriff says:

      I’d put money on PACT setting an opening date at the end of November then one week before the date they will decide to pause reopening through the end of February. Then they will get pressure to promise another opening date before the end of February, they will set that date then a week or so before that date arrives they will pause reopening until the end of April. And the beat goes on….

      Covid is frightening but anyone reading reliable science will come to the conclusion it will not be irradicated in the near future. What then is the solution? Remain closed for many more months? It’s been 20 months already, and although we thought we were living Covid free, were we? No one in the community was being tested until recently. Were those summer colds actually Covid but because we were told we did not have Covid in the community people didn’t bother getting tested?

      It is my opinion that PACT needs to do one of two things:

      1) – set a firm reopening date, get rid of quarantine, accept CDC vaccine cards as proof of vaccination and STICK WITH THE PLAN

      OR

      2) – make it CRYSTAL CLEAR that there is not going to be a firm reopening date until Covid is once again out of the community. Come up with a consistent plan for isolating positive people, it can’t be one way for schools and a completely different way for businesses.

      There really is no in-between, we either open or we don’t. 10 – 14 day quarantine prevents family from visiting because most people don’t have more than two weeks off and can’t spend their entire visit locked away from the family they are coming to visit.

      • Anonymous says:

        And because no-one was being tested, no-one was freaking out by looking at the daily stats, because guess what, people weren’t dying all over the place…. lateral flow tests need to become common place, people need to have the right to take responsibility for themselves once again, just like they are in the UK.
        Are we doing daily stats of total deaths in cayman? We have more chance of dying on the road than from Covid but we’re still allowed to go out in our cars, why is that? It’s because the powers that be are being irrational.

  23. Anonymous says:

    cayman is putting itself at great risk by not mandating vaccine for front line workers. this is happening in all other first worl countries.
    also why have no vax passport to enter public places…..again this is a feature in m ost other countries.
    covid is now a pandemic for the unvaxxed….they need to isoltate generally to protect themselves, their families and protect our health service.

    • Anonymous says:

      if your so keen to live in a country that has vax passports and mandated jabs then go find one of those anywhere around the world and go live there

    • Anonymous says:

      So, in your scenario the vaccine passports are not to protect the vaccinated who are afraid of the virus but want to go clubbing, rather it is to protect the unnvaccinated who are not afraid and want to go clubbing. I’m not sure that’s logical since the unvaccinated aren’t asking for the ‘protection’ of COVID passports.

      • Anonymous says:

        You pay your own health care costs from COVID related illness and we will have a deal.

        • Anonymous says:

          I’d prefer to pay a little more than live like a scared subject of the state. Strange how freedoms are given up for a few dollars.

  24. Anonymous says:

    I hope they don’t shut down the salad bar!

  25. Anonymous says:

    Singapore’s ‘living with Covid’ scheme is working. The US just put Singapore on its red list of the most risky places to visit!

    https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/cdc-very-high-risk-travel-destinations-october-18/index.html

    • Anonymous says:

      People, on BOTH sides of the debate, should just stop pointing to other random countries and say “see, look at that country!”.

    • Anonymous says:

      Cayman on the list soon come! It’s is about to spread like a wildfire. I think we’ll see hundreds of more cases before the end of the month. The holdouts better get vaccinated or get ready to stay shut in for a few months unless they’re willing to roll the dice and hope they don’t get a bad case of Covid.

      • Anonymous says:

        Darwinism needs to take hold here.

      • Anonymous says:

        I think you are probably right. In most places, it percolated slowly in the background, then exponential spread.

        We havent had a “wave” yet so it might now be our turn. Fortunately, in all places, waves peaked, then go down.

  26. Anonymous says:

    There is good news coming out of the UK today for those who want everyone to be infected with Covid as soon as possible and with as many variants as possible.

    “A newly detected coronavirus variant is on the rise in England, with the virus believed to be an offshoot of Delta.

    According to a briefing from the UK Health Security Agency, released on Friday, “a Delta sublineage newly designated as AY.4.2 is noted to be expanding in England”, with the body adding that the variant is being monitored and assessed.

    The report states that in the week beginning 27 September – the last week for which complete sequencing data was available – AY.4.2 accounted for about 6% of sequenced coronavirus cases and is “on an increasing trajectory”.

    AY.4.2 contains two mutations in its spike protein, called A222V and Y145H. The spike protein sits on the outside of the coronavirus and helps the virus to enter cells.”

    • Anonymous says:

      variant will continue to develop as long as we have many unvaxxed people and nations

      • Anonymous says:

        I am fully vaccinated but wary of variants. It is inevitable that as more of the population is vaccinated, variants will arise that can ‘escape’ vaccine related immunity. Those variants that are not affected by existing vaccine related immunity, will travel to and spread like wildfire in communities where international travel is common.

      • Anonymous says:

        Viral mutations do not work that way. Your armor of vaccination is not what you have been led to believe

      • Anonymous says:

        I guess you don’t know that vaccinated people still carry and transmit covid. Strains also mutate in the vaccinated and those that survive the vaccine are the most worrisome.

    • Anonymous says:

      You trying to spin this as good news is terrible and disgraceful knowing farewell the outcomes but you open up mites will do and say anything to sell this to the public.

    • Anonymous says:

      A lot of these posts must be from the same person – they all have the same style sarcastic humor intro.

  27. Anonymous says:

    53 infected and only 2 in hospital. Come on Cayman we can do better than that. We should be working on 1000 infected every day if we are planning to surpass Bermuda before the end of the year. Hopefully the press briefing this week will reveal the government’s plans to infect as many as possible.

  28. Robert Mugabe IV says:

    So will Pact close down all the businesses of their bosom buddies, the supermarket and restaurants etc, like they stupidly did when shutting schools after a few positive cases??
    What don’t people understand!!
    Every country on the planet goes through the same phases of pandemics.
    Except we are months behind the rest of the world because FEAR won over SCIENCE. All because the Pact have no vertebrae.

    • Anonymous says:

      Idiotic rubbish. If you compare outcomes for different countries you will see vastly different outcomes depending on how much the leadership followed the science. Those countries with strong leadership and fewer idiots have done much better. The evidence is here if you are capable of understanding.

      https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

      • Anonymous says:

        At what cost to the children. We won’t know till down the line but mark my words you will hang your head in shame when mental illness amongst the young becomes the new pandemic. But sure, keep locking families down unnecessarily.
        Strong leadership = Tyranny, just look to Australia, Israel and Canada to name a few. There is nothing “strong” about it, that is dictatorship rule and people compiling are part of the problem which thankfully many are now waking up to.

        • Anonymous says:

          Your concern for children “should” also include the unknown long-term effects should they get Covid.
          That is if you truly are concerned about the young ones…

      • Anonymous says:

        How convincing!

    • Anonymous says:

      It’s not fear, it’s abundance of caution. It’s actions to give the country more time to convince the idiots in our midst to get F*@king vaccinated. And, we’re months behind what, exactly? What have you suffered that’s worse that everyone else on the planet? You’ve lived a completely normal, mask-free life for 18-months while people in the US and further abroad have been dying in large numbers. Shut up and let those who know a great deal more than you get on with protecting the community.

  29. Anonymous says:

    What happens when hotel staff test positive for Covid?

    Will tourists be made to quarantine too, or will quarantine be only for Caymanians?

    The new rules need to be clear and fair when tourists come.

  30. anonymous says:

    It would be more informative if instead of the blanket term travellers the point of embarkation were given also are they visitors or residents flying out and back

  31. Anonymous says:

    Stop shutting schools!

  32. ELVIS says:

    Morning.

    Anyone know of a testing station for those needing a test without appointments at all or anyone doing tests should i call them?

    ty

  33. Anonymous says:

    So, West Bay Post Office closed due to a positive case. Is the supermarket closed? The (I assume) restaurant with the food server who tested positive? If not, then these forced quarantines on school kids need to stop! I absolutely don’t think it’s necessary to isolate contacts of contacts of contacts of contacts. Kids are yet again being victimized for no actual real risk. As a reminder, 60-70% of kids who test positive are asymptotic. The others who test positive have mild symptoms. Stop the persecution of kids and their families!!!

  34. Anonymous says:

    This virus isn’t going anywhere. It will eventually makes its way through the population. So can we please just drop this wearing off masks??? What’s the point, at this point????

    • Anonymous says:

      And there it is, the dumbest post of the day.

    • Anonymous says:

      Right – we should all go find a very symptomatic (preferably hospitalized) person with Covid and then exchange naso-pharyngeal fluids with them for a few minutes every day until each of us is infected. It would be tiring for the sick individuals but it would be such a public service to assist with infecting everyone as quickly as possible. (Sarcasm in case anyone is in doubt.)

      • Anonymous says:

        While I recognized it as sarcasm, it reminded me of something I had never heard of until coming here. Chickenpox parties. Apparently there was a trend (at least in Canada where the person who told me about it was from – later heard about it in other places) where if a child had Chickenpox – they would host a party and other kids would come and catch it so that everyone could get it, get past it and be immune….

        So again – while I saw it was sarcasm it also makes you wonder…

        • Anonymous says:

          I sorta experienced this as a kid growing up in Toronto in the late 80s.

          Chickenpox is not Covid though.

          • Anonymous says:

            Better to have it as a kid than an adult though. It can be more serious

            • Anonymous says:

              And you think shingles, the virus for which remains dormant in your body after you get chickenpox, is a walk in the park? Of course, you can get a vaccine that is highly effective against shingles, but it’s not covered by health insurance and will cost you about $500 for each of the two jabs you’ll need at the Cayman Islands Hospital.

        • Anonymous says:

          That was before the vaccine for chickenpox. with the advent of the vaccine and the mandating of it for children going to school chicken pox is but a thing of the past. That is what we are trying to do with Covid but the misinformed are standing in the way.

          • Anonymous says:

            You’d think. The clusters of G20 antivax kooks, who also consume a steady diet of alt-facts, either lie about vaccination status, plea for religious variance, or home school. They are out there.

        • Anonymous says:

          It’s all fun and games until someone gets shingles later in life. Thanks mom, for being so thoughtful.

        • Anonymous says:

          No country has a lock on idiocy unfortunately. Pox parties come from the same demographic and mindset as those who believe in procreating with their closest and youngest relatives.

          https://www.parents.com/health/vaccines/chicken-pox/chickenpox-parties/

        • Anonymous says:

          I understand that chickenpox is quite benign in children but can be nasty if caught as an adult. So you want to get it, and so get future immunity, sooner rather than later.

          • Anonymous says:

            Chickenpox is not always benign. Hundreds of children develop varicella meningitis every year and many are left dead or with significant brain deficits. Children exposed to chickenpox can also go on to develop recurrences known as shingles in adult life.

          • Anonymous says:

            Having chicken pox s a child exposes you to Shingles as an adult. My father suffered terribly.

        • Anonymous says:

          Yes it is true. I am in my mid sixties and when I was young we were exposed to other kids and siblings in the hope of getting chickenpox. It was viewed as better to get it over and done with.

    • Anonymous says:

      Because masks reduce the infection rate (generally, amongst the general population). Which means not everyone catches COVID at once, which reduces social stress. i.e., the slower it makes its way through the population the better (especially taking reinfections into account).

      Masks, plus hand washing & not coughing on people, and vaccines, reduce the rate of spread/infection/hospitalisation/death to a (hopefully) manageable level. Which can be further reduced with occasional lockdowns. – Definitions of ‘manageable rate’ may vary, especially for death.

    • Anonymous says:

      New Study Casts More Doubt on Effectiveness of Masks in Preventing COVID-19 Spread

      https://fee.org/articles/new-study-casts-more-doubt-on-effectiveness-of-masks-in-preventing-covid-19-spread/

  35. Anonymous says:

    Funny how no spread to private schools.

  36. Anonymous says:

    There is most definitely another lockdown coming.
    If so, many people will go under financially and that is going to be a huge problem.

    • Anonymous says:

      No reason for another lockdown now or never.

      Lockdown is a Chinese Communist invention to cripple the west cause and cause lasting mental health issues to our youth.

      We need to all get our booster shots, invest in Monoclonal antibodies and make sure our hospitals are well funded and well staffed and we will get through this together.

      Lockdown causes more problems than it solves, it only delays the invetible.

  37. Anonymous says:

    Numberswise we will have more positives among vaxed than unvaxed as we have more vaxed. But take percentage of positves among vaxed and unvaxed and compare. Figures may be similar but viral loads will be less among vaxed compared to unvaxed and percentage of sick among unvaxed positives will be high vs vaxed.

    • Anonymous says:

      Dr. Lee’s #s are 14 cases vaxed out of 53 total. Yet 80% of the population is vaccinated. So clearly there is a major benefit beyond just a better outcome if you do catch it.

    • Anonymous says:

      Totally agree except that they are only doing genomic sequencing on individuals with high viral loads and from the press release some of those are vaccinated. (BTW I am fully vaxxed and think that everyone who can be should be.)

  38. Anonymous says:

    Yes whatever happenning now would have happened six months ago and we would have been alright.
    We have been saying dont quarantine families of all school. So can we close whole supermarket for 15 days and quarantine all staff and families. Who will pay. If their family members civil servants free holiday.
    Hopefully the lesson reached to all concerned we have to manage how to live with covid by vaccination,mask,social distance,sanitization and avoiding crowds
    If we do these in six months life will be normal
    Ofcourse some will be infected and some symptomatic to be managed by Health care .

    • Anonymous says:

      That’s the issue! Our health care system CAN’T handle it.

      • Anonymous says:

        WHY not?! The HSA have had long enough to prepare and get organised, even if that means hiring more staff and sourcing all relevant equipment needed. They have had 20 months! It’s just basic organisation skills.
        It’s not difficult to get prepared! No one should be fearing or touting “The health care system can not cope” as a reason to impose draconian measures. It’s BS and a total cop out.

        • Anonymous says:

          How many ventilators and the needed staff to operate them do you think we actually have if or when the wave comes?

          • Anonymous says:

            We need Steroids and Monoclonal Antibodies, not Ventilators. Ventilators cause lots of damage and should only be used as a last resort.

        • Anonymous says:

          Where will they hire more staff? There is a shortage of healthcare professionals worldwide!

  39. Anonymous says:

    Spread slowly starting to increase. Let’s see where/when it peaks. And see if Panton loses his nerve again.

    • Hubert says:

      We urgently need to have mandatory vaccinations for all people dealing with the public, school teachers and workers in schools, and all Caymanian civil servants.

      If we do not undertake this initiative in the next month we are going to pay a huge price for our ignorance. Also, we will not be opening to tourism for another year.

      C’mon people in government. Wake up and make the tough decisions now.

  40. Anonymous says:

    So….is the entire supermarket staff and all their families in quarantine now? If not, why the forced quarantines on school classes with positives? Kids are far less likely to get seriously sick than adults so does not compute…

  41. Anonymous says:

    So it would seem there is more chance of catching COVID in Cayman than in the USA at the moment.

    • Anonymous says:

      Yes because we stupidly stayed shut for too long and delayed the inevitable

      • Anonymous says:

        Exactly. To reach endemic COVID you must pass through pandemic COVID first. Sad but true.

      • Big Bobo In West Bay says:

        No we stupidly did not get vaccinated fast enough. The inevitable would not have happened if all CIG employees were mandated to get vaccinated. All the work permit employees are now vaccinated and every expat I know is vaccinated now.

        Caymanians, get vaccinated. Don’t be stupid.

        Let’s get out of this COVID hole.

      • Anonymous says:

        You should go run your own island. What could we call it? Oh, I know – Idiot Island!

        • Anonymous says:

          Would anybody be vaccinated on Idiot Island? Doubt it. You would probably be the first to go there.

      • Anonymous says:

        Yep! We should have opened way back in April this year. We gained nothing.

      • Anonymous says:

        Idiot

      • Anonymous says:

        It will get worse when the borders open, that is what is inevitable. More lockdowns soon come

        • Anonymous says:

          Why more lockdowns?
          Turks and Caicos opened 16 months ago DID NOT go back into lockdown and has a booming tourism industry.

          Your post is pathetic nothing more than putting fear into people.

          • Anonymous says:

            It isn’t about science, it is about politics. Lockdowns are decided by politicians and T&C has a different government. What is pathetic is your use of the word pathetic for dramatic effect. If you fear lockdowns then you might consider getting counselling.

          • Anonymous says:

            TCI also has night time curfew. You all want that here? That means no bars open at 2am.

      • Anonymous says:

        Why inevitable? We could have stayed shut, stayed safe, and welcomed thousands of longer stay visitors through quarantine.

      • Anonymous says:

        Absurd. “Staying shut” has noting to do with it. The virus doesn’t care about time or borders.

      • Anonymous says:

        Been pro-mask, pro-vax since day 1. 2nd shot in March 2021.

        At the point now where I just wanna take off the mask and be like fk it, open it up and lets get this over with.

    • Anonymous says:

      You’d better play it safe and get on the next plane there. We’ll let you know how it goes here. Take care.

    • Anonymous says:

      Because we are getting the wave they got over the summer.

    • Anonymous says:

      You can catch it easily in both places. Or anywhere with community transmission. Duh.

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