194 COVID positive cases recorded in one day
(CNS): The escalation in community transmission of SARS-CoV-2 was starkly illustrated Friday when public health revealed that 194 positive tests for the virus were recorded between 8am Wednesday and 8am Thursday across all three islands, bringing the total number active cases as of yesterday morning to 1,600.
Cayman has now seen a total of 2,676 confirmed cases of the virus since March 2020, with 1,953 of those being recorded since the community re-emergence of the virus just two months ago. There are now 12 COVID-19 patients hospitalised in the Cayman Islands, all in stable condition, as the number of people infected climbs.
Of those patients, at least eight of them are unvaccinated and three of them have serious underlying medical conditions, according to a video recorded by Chief Medical Officer Dr John Lee in a video recorded on Thursday morning but not released until Friday evening. He also said that these admissions were relatively low.
The government has not released the number of people who are managing symptoms of COVID-19 at home.
Over on the Sister Islands, where health officials are more up to date on collating numbers, another ten people tested positive on Thursday. In total there are now 84 active cases on Cayman Brac and 2 on Little Cayman. 66 of the cases from the Sister Islands are included in the total of active cases for all three islands as of Thursday morning.
Officials have said that by Monday all three islands will be reporting figures for the same day, reducing the current confusion over exactly how many daily positive cases the country is recording and the active case numbers on any given day.
The number of people in isolation has still not been revealed but it is estimated to be around 3,500, since, with the introduction of lateral flow testing, not all families are forced to isolated even when one member is positive. But even though the rapid home tests are seen as the key to manage the impact of isolation on the workforce and students, there remains a serious shortage of kits.
Officials told CNS Friday that 18,000 kits were sent out to schools this week. Dr Lee said in his video on Thursday that more tests are arriving on island daily for employers and members of the community. He said the idea was to enable people to keep their businesses going and to go to work, and for students to attend school if they are negative and vaccinated.
Meanwhile, over 5,000 people have now had a booster shot, while 54,711 people (77% of the population) have had two doses of the vaccine and 56,908 (80%) have had at least one shot.
See the vaccine schedule on the HSA website here.
For more information on vaccines contact the HSA Communications team at
communications@hsa.kySee here for more information on securely verifiable vaccination records.
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Category: Health, Medical Health
It’s absolutely ridiculous that some people are criticizing the border reopening for vaccinated returning residents and visitors on November 20. Even more absurd that people are saying the policy will be responsible for killing people. Very unlikely any vaccinated die. It’s clear from the statistics last week that the positive cases are weighted heavily towards unvaccinated, even after accounting for children who can’t get the vaccine there is a far higher proportion of unvaccinated adults than vaccinated in Cayman testing positive and being hospitalized. So far non one has died and the unvaccinated only have themselves to blame. The vaccinated visitors from November 20 will pose no additional risk to the already widespread community spread in cayman.
To say that we should remain closed 20 months into a global pandemic, and accuse those who agree with the government plan of killing people as a result, is quite frankly one of the most disturbed, irrational, Unintelligent and pathetic selfish statements ever posted on these comment threads.
There should be a study to see if the high cancer rate is link to imported food and the lack of vitamin D.
or just to the water and air pollution of the Dump?
Yep!! Cayman still hasn’t figured this out…
Where is our vaccine for 5-11 year olds?
Your are a loony tune !!!
And the boosters for my cat?
Agreed, but the world isn’t ready to act like preventive measures need not be talked. I get that we are focused on the local situation, but this is a global problem. As time has passed, prevention and treatment has continued to progress. Vaccinations are the primarily preventative, but just as importantly, treatments have been developed that have reduced the hospitalized death rates by more than half. And now there’s a pill that will reduce death rates even further. The world is getting to where it can indeed “live with Covid,” but it isn’t there yet and if everyone could be a little more patient, it would get there with less loss of life or permanent disability. End the end, money is just a symptom of the real problem: selfishness. The worst part of Covid for me has to finally understand how disrespectfully selfish so many people really are. I suppose I was being naive, but the effect on me has been profound. I wouldn’t call myself a misanthrope at this point, but I am leaning in that direction.
Right back at you. How disrespectful and selfish you are accusing people being disrespectful and selfish. Nobody owes you anything. Get healthy and stop whining. Moron.
Thanks Donald, but look in the mirror and try and get your weight below morbidly obese.
Your values are obviously different than mine. That is exactly why I stay far away from people like you these days. Good luck finding meaningful fulfillment with your money.
I completely agree. I think a lot of the damage to our mental health is the realisation that most people will carry on doing what they damned well like, in the name of their ‘personal freedom’ and to hell with everyone else.
Our islands could have held on just that little bit longer, continued to enjoy the wonderfully normal way of life, just a little longer. Until perhaps the 2021/2022 winter surge was out of the way. But no, greed and money, and the desire to jet off for the weekend for shopping in Miami was more important than the health or lives of some of our seniors.
Selfishness to the extreme.
You do realize that the border is still closed and we have rampant community spread.
To comment publicly, you need to develop thick skin.
The selfish people are the ones not getting vaccinated and trying to stop our border reopening on November 20 and prevent the vaccinated who follow the rules from traveling freely after being locked here for almost 2 years,
That and pure dislike of certain groups make us all misanthropic to a certain extent, unfortunately.
Drama queen
Posting on a public forum, harsh criticism is expected.
Some me alone time not going to kill anybody.😛😀
I have a fantastic spouse and a small group of wonderful, well-adjusted and self-aware friends. None of them are so hung up on money and self-gratification that they would act irresponsibly with regard to COVID. I have, however, pulled away from numerous friends and acquaintances, particularly if I hear one hint of a conspiracy theory coming out of their mouths.
Is it true that government has agreed to pay all costs incurred by tourists who have a positive exit PCR test and have to extend their stays including hotels, meals, etc.
Has any thought been given to simply providing all tourists with the URL’s to the popular sites selling fake PCR tests? That would be much cheaper although the hotel owners would probably prefer the government (our) money.
I seriously hope that isn’t true. Why should government funds be used in this way? These people have got enough money to come here and travel insurance should be compulsory. If they get sick they should pay for it themselves or claim through their insurance. Our government should NOT pay these bills for tourists.
@11:46am. You do realize that 11:03am is just stirring controversy for no reason. Just your average run of the mill “shit stirrer. There is no government in the world that would guarantee if other people come for a vacation and get sick that they would pay for their expenses. Just like when you travel to the states and you get sick, you have to take care of your own self.
If a visitor gets sick they will be treated. No one is denied emergency care here because they don’t have insurance. If they don’t have insurance, once they recover they leave and the people of the Cayman Islands pay. That is why we should require visitors to have Covid insurance just like they do in TCI and other places.
Visitors ARE required to have COVID insurance at this time on repatriation flights. Are you sure that requirement has been retracted as of Nov 20?
Why have covid insurance when my regular insurance covers more? Covid insurance is a rip off. Plus, my credit card also offers coverage for many things. Stop pushing things on tourists that are a waste of money. We do not push things on you when you travel.
Take a look at the HSA website – there is no requirement for tourists to pay for PCR testing –
https://www.hsa.ky/appointment/
Hmmmm Except for the USA. I just heard Biden state that if an illegal immigrant came across the border and was separated from their kids, they would be paid compensation.
Contrary to the media spin, he did not say $400k. He actually didn’t say exactly how much but now my question is “why?”.
You are absolutely right about mandatory insurance for tourists. Before government formally surrendered to the cabal and announced the 20 November re-opening, the cabal bots frequently said that we should open like TCI but they omitted to point out that TCI has a strong vaccine mandate and a requirement for tourists to be insured for all Covid and other costs.
Everytime I read the word Cabal, I immediately stop readying. Stop already!
I’m pretty sure that all posts with the word cabal in are written by 1, at most 3 people. It’s such a specific way of describing the conspiracy theories they want to be true and it’s never used in regular life.
TCI also has a vaccine passport system. We didn’t follow that either.
If a tourist tests positive while on the island, they most likely got it from a local that wasn’t properly quarantining. When you speak of these people having money to come to the island so they should pay their own expenses, remember that these are the same people that spend money on your island. Do you want them to come back again and spend more money? Cover the costs of the LFTs at least.
This is absolutely rubbish? This is the reason we ensure get travel insurance particularly since covid began. If anyone traveling nowadays goes on vacation and expects a foreign government to take care of them, they are either plain stupid or ill informed.
We are flying in November 27, and we have purchased our travel insurance and we know full well that if we contract covid that we could not reach out to the Cayman Government to pay for us to stay there. We are from the USA and we have Consulates and Embassies all around the world and if anything we would reach out to them for assistance not the Cayman Government.
For the record, we have been to Cancun, Turks and Caicos and Barbados over the the last year and we have followed all of the health protocols of each country and we intend to do the same when we get back to Grand Cayman, our most favorite vacation place in the world for the last 22 years.
Like to brag eh? Maybe you are superspreaders.
Avoid here. The locals are pure poison against tourists. Look forward to their ‘no tourists till 2023’ T shirts. Spend your hard earned dollars somewhere you are appreciated
This is a lie. No one is wearing shirts like that. And if they are, it’s not anywhere tourists go anyway. The vast majority of people are ecstatic that the border is reopening. It’s just a vocal minority posting on here. Maybe it’s only one person with a lot of time on their hands, who knows.
If a formal referendum was conducted today I am confident that the electorate would vote overwhelmingly to limit importing Covid.
No need to import it – it’s already here
They said that in Iraq
1. There is not need for a PCR test to go to the USA…cheep 15 min FDA proved at home test is fine.
2. The rest of the Caribbean that has been open for over a year requires tourists to have COVID heath cover and hotel stay cover, why would we be any different?
Not quite that simple. This is the current CDC requirement for entering the US for everyone – US citizens included
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html
WRONG on #1 (dont mislead people). A self-administered test is ONLY acceptable if observed by a telehealth service. That service is not cheap (or “cheep” as you say). From CDC site.
“The testing procedure must include a telehealth service affiliated with the manufacturer of the test that provides real-time supervision remotely through an audio and video connection. Some FDA-authorized self-tests that include a telehealth service may require a prescription.
The telehealth provider must confirm your identity, observe the sample collection and testing procedures”
@1:20 from the CDC website regarding at home tests:
You can use a self-test (sometimes referred to as home test) that meets the following criteria:
The test must be a SARS-CoV-2 viral test (nucleic acid amplification test [NAAT] or antigen test) with Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The testing procedure must include a telehealth service affiliated with the manufacturer of the test that provides real-time supervision remotely through an audio and video connection. Some FDA-authorized self-tests that include a telehealth service may require a prescription.
The telehealth provider must confirm your identity, observe the sample collection and testing procedures, confirm the test result, and issue a report that meets the requirements of CDC’s Order (see “What information must be included in the test result?” below).
Airlines and other aircraft operators must be able to review and confirm your identity and the test result details. You must also be able to present the documentation of test results to U.S. officials at the port of entry and local/state health departments, if requested.
Some countries may restrict importation of tests that are not authorized or registered there. If you are considering bringing a U.S.-authorized test with you for use outside of the United States, contact authorities at your destination for information before you travel..
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html
St. Lucia has more than 20 properties and villas that offer free rapid on-site testing. Baha Mar in the Bahamas is offering two free rapid tests per guest room and additional rapid tests may be purchased for $16.80 each through the resort’s Safe Travel Initiative.
The La Coleccion Resorts in the Dominican Republic and Mexico offer free rapid testing. Punta Cana testing is also free.
There are many other places where testing is free, but these are just some we know about.
No tourists till 23.
No problem with tourists – provided they are willing to come through quarantine. Thousands are.
No travel off island unless a 14 day quarantine to wherever you travel.
If they are trying to maintain a Covid-free status and I am not coming from a Covid-free jurisdiction, sure. Seems perfectly fair and appropriate.
So guess you aren’t going anywhere until after 2023.
Really? Thousands? 🤡
Yes, really. We have been turning them away since the outbreak began. It wasn’t just property owners and jet ski racer’s girlfriends that wanted to come.
No travel off island till 2023. Not to the Brac/ Little, no Cuba, Honduras, Jamaica, UK, US, nowhere until 2023!
So expats that are 50 per cent of the island and generate 80 per cent of the economy and government revenues should not be able to see their family, fly off island or have family visit without quarantining for what would be 5 years by 2023? What a ridiculous comment.
Why, what happens in 2023?
What is the difference between November 2020 and 2023? Covid still here in 2023, likely with new variants, and cayman will still be 80 per cent vaccinated. Your comment makes no sense.
The no travel off the island until 2023 was showing how ridiculous it is as no tourists until 2023. Nothing going to change.
The LFT’s incoming tourists are expected to do aafter arrival re self-administered on an ‘honor system’, ie not going to happen or not going to be reported given that a positive test result means an interruption in the vacation. PACT is clearly puttingg profit for the cabal miles ahead of public health.
You are correct. Unless the LFT is observed, this is of limited value. No tourist is going to self report a positive. If you are staying in a small hotel room at the Ritz for 10 days you are not going to self-report a positive so that you and your traveling companions will be required to be locked in your room for the rest of your vacation.
I agree but the LFTs are probably more relevant for returning residents who will be returning to workplaces rather than tourists sitting on the beach.
Government should have done what Turks and Caicos did and required people entering bars and restaurants to be vaccinated so that there was less chance of tourists infecting unvaccinated residents. (I know vaccinated people can catch covid but there is less risk of covid passing between vaccinated people.)
Not true. TCI recommends it, but doesn’t require it; they also recommend that visitors only frequent those establishments with the TCI Assured Certification Seal, which symbolises compliance with the TCI requirements.
https://turksandcaicostourism.com/tci-assured-faqs/
SO much hyperbole here.
@10:08 Well, we Caymanians aren’t setting a good example. Everyone seems to think they are a law on to their own selves. Is this why you think that “vaccinated tourists” coming here on vacation, paying to get PCR test before coming are the ones that can’t be trusted. I think we need to look inward to ourselves first before we start blaming anyone else. For me, right now, I think the vaccinated tourists will be the least of our worries.
I am not part of the “cabal” and have no business interest at all. But I am thrilled to be opening up, being able to take a weekend trip to the US without quarantine on return, having friends visit.
Time to move on like the rest of the world.
You are literally killing people, for convenience. Worth it?
@11:45am? Who died? stop with the fear mongering.
80% of the population is vaccinated and will recover if they contract covid.
The other 20% had their opportunity and we refused to let them keep us locked down.
So the penalty is death? Even for some unlucky vaccinated people?
I think I am exchanging messages with a real life fascist. Something I could never have foreseen.
I urge you to take a good look into the mirror of your soul.
Don’t forget that approximately 20% of those who are fully vaccinated have died of the virus in various countries.
That also doesn’t fit with the narrative that you are opposing.
And it doesn’t fit your narrative that those people were already severely ill. It’s sad but we can’t get it rid of all risk. That’s why we also allow cars, fast food, cigarettes, alcohol etc even though they lead to peoples deaths. We need to be looking at how to realistically protect those vulnerable people. Staying closed indefinitely is not realistic.
That would literally be millions of people! I think you mean 20% of people dying with covid have been vaccinated? But the majority of those would be very elderly and/or suffering other conditions.
Or they are under 12 years of age.
Natural selection Bobo
Ah, yes. Undermunchen was the original descriptor from what I have read. Make light of it all you want. You are following a dark path.
800 will die in Cayman right?
No, about 50 or 60 in the next several months, PROVIDED our healthcare capacity does not become overwhelmed.
No no no.. shut the island, have a 21day quarantine at least and watch the economic chaos that follows.
Only 800? 40,000 surely with these pesky infected tourists!
Oh F off you nut job. Literally killing no one
It’s slow. It may take a few more weeks before the first fatalities are confirmed. But they will come. And these persons will probably have died unnecessarily because some people find quarantine inconvenient, and used political clout (the power of their words) to bring about the inevitable result. You can sit smugly in your rocking chair denying any responsibility. History will confirm the truth.
I assume your parents and grandparents do not live here.
You literally are. Not alone, and not directly, but indirectly and in concert with others. Your actions and views, and the adoption of them by others, are inescapably going to result in people dying. You may not yet have connected the dots, but you will. You will then try to clear your conscience by convincing yourself that everyone else agreed with you and someone else caused that old lady, her niece, and three of her friends to die. You never met them. You will be momentarily saddened to read of their passing, as you will of the drug overdose of the health practitioner who was forced to work for 15 weeks straight and was diagnosed with PTSD. Will the price you are requiring others to pay have been worth it?
Wow…..your stress level is way to high. Get off the computer and go for a walk on the beach.
The sad part is more people disagree with you than not. The fear level here is off the charts. It’s quite embarrassing. Obviously, it did nothing to prevent Covid from spreading.
…. because you know everything there is to know about a continually evolving virus, and therefore almighty you should decide what is safe and what is not for an entire population.
I don’t know what you’re angry about, but I suspect you have this reaction to anyone who happens to pose an opinion which you disagree with. That would constitute a personal problem on your part.
What an absurd comment. Grow up and get in the real world. There is no valid reason to make returning residents and their visitors quarantine and they are killing no one, unvaccinated caymanians and caymanians breaking the rules are what will kill people.
No no no.. shut the island, have a 21day quarantine at least and watch the economic chaos that follows.
My family is coming down. We would definitely report our status. Why wouldn’t we as it will only catch up to us when we take the PCR test to go back home? Don’t be so mistrusting. We do not want to get covid, just as much as we do not want to infect anyone. That is why we wear masks, social distance and are triple vaccinated.
There is no reason to believe that even 1/4 of those coming to party with no ‘on-island’ family would be as honest as you suggest.
@11:46 Did you not just understand what she was trying to say. The average length of stay for tourists in Cayman is 5 to 7 days. It makes so sense to not self-report as the still will need a negative exit PCR test. They can’t lie about that one.
Do you think the Cayman Islands are a “party” destination?
It doesn’t matter because we have rampant community spread. We are actually going to benefit by bringing in people who are statistically less likely to be infected that the people who are already here.
We don’t come to party. Cayman is definitely not a party destination. It is actually quite boring at night. We come knowing that and come to relax, eat at overly expensive restaurants or just use our grill and watch the sun rise and set. We use our Cayman vacation to read and relax.
Good for you, and I mean that in a genuine way, not sarcastic. You sound like a person that will take others’ safety into consideration. You are the type of people that belong to visit here.
Be safe. I hope your getaway is everything you hope it to be.
Look forward to a warm welcome with the ‘ no tourists till 2023’ T shirts. Caymankind at its finest!
Those t-shirts won’t bother us. We don’t care what you wear. We don’t judge. Our faces will be toward the sun or in a book. We may not even notice.
Thank you, Beaumont Zodecioun. We have always enjoyed your island. We don’t expect anything differently this time. 6 days to relax, regroup, and warm up! 🙂
+1. We generally stay in our family bubble to recover from the pressures of work. You won’t notice we’re here!
Not convincing at all.
Idiot
The PCR tests and results required by tourists returning to the US from Cayman cost approximately $100 to perform. I understand that the cabal has secured PACT’s agreement that this cost will be borne by us while the cabal gets all the profits. Not even any tourist tax will be payed to offset this cost to the public purse.
PCR tests for US citizens returning from Cayman will likely be replaced by LFTs soon. The US recognizes the antigen LFTs, they can be administered here much more quickly and are less expensive.
Please provide a US government URL that says that. What I see says that only PCR results are accepted.
You must be tested with a viral test that could be either an antigen test or a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT). Examples of available NAATs for SARS-CoV-2 include but are not restricted to reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP), transcription-mediated amplification (TMA), nicking enzyme amplification reaction (NEAR), and helicase-dependent amplification (HDA). The test used must be authorized for use by the relevant national authority for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the country where the test is administered. A viral test conducted for U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) personnel, including DOD contractors, dependents, and other U.S. government employees, and tested by a DOD laboratory located in a foreign country also meets the requirements of the Order.
Here’s the link: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html
Lateral Flow or Antigen tests have been acceptable to enter the US for along period of time.
Maybe Cayman Airways wants a PCR test but the CDC does not require that.
A quick Google search would tell you if I am full of it… not sure where you have been looking
LFT tests ARE NOT accepted by the US for return to the country: Below from the CDC website
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html
You can use a self-test (sometimes referred to as home test) that meets the following criteria:
The test must be a SARS-CoV-2 viral test (nucleic acid amplification test [NAAT] or antigen test) with Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The testing procedure must include a telehealth service affiliated with the manufacturer of the test that provides real-time supervision remotely through an audio and video connection. Some FDA-authorized self-tests that include a telehealth service may require a prescription.
The telehealth provider must confirm your identity, observe the sample collection and testing procedures, confirm the test result, and issue a report that meets the requirements of CDC’s Order (see “What information must be included in the test result?” below).
Airlines and other aircraft operators must be able to review and confirm your identity and the test result details. You must also be able to present the documentation of test results to U.S. officials at the port of entry and local/state health departments, if requested.
Some countries may restrict importation of tests that are not authorized or registered there. If you are considering bringing a U.S.-authorized test with you for use outside of the United States, contact authorities at your destination for information before you travel.
I read that Cayman Health City provides PCR testing free of charge at their East End and Camana Bay facilities.
It is not free. Government pays them a fee for each test they do.
Is this true? Tourists won’t have to pay for their exit tests? That’s bloody criminal! Why should the government (us, the residents/citizens) pay for these tests, when most of us don’t gain any advantage from the tourists being here. I object to paying for a tourists exit test. If they are wealthy enough to come here, then they have enough money to pay for their own damned test.
AMEN!
Take a look at the HSA website – there is no requirement for tourists to pay for PCR testing –
https://www.hsa.ky/appointment/
The airfare, hotels, car rentals have raised their prices substantially most likely to make up for the loss of being closed for 2 years. The least is a free LFT that is being done 2 times during a 5-7 day vacation for the few tourists willing to come down to covid central.
PACT supporters should now take note of who is kowtowing to special interests and at the expense of our physical well being. Ironically it could also ruin our individual and collective financial situations. The special interests persons behind this will simply move elsewhere as several are already doing. They have the same locust mentality that has wrought much havoc in other countries and territories. I pray to God that PACT and the special interests will recognise the errors of their ways before it is too late. As voters and residents who care about our neighbours, we also have a right and obligation to do what we can.
It’s been 2 years since I have been in Grand Cayman.
Sad to hear so many businesses are closed.
Look forward to visiting this month, CDC card in hand, Negative PCR test verified…no quarantine needed.
Social distancing and mask wearing while indoors doesn’t bug me.
Cool sand beneath my feet, cold drink in my hand, Crystal blue waters for my vista. Palm tree shade when it gets too hot…
CANT WAIT!!!!
It’s been over 2 years since many of us have been able to travel off island freely without quarantine, and seen our families. Thankfully we are getting back to some sense of normality after 2 years on November 20.
Tourist or person returning to work in tourism?
Yes, we might even give you a new variant to take home with you
10:43 New variants can be a good thing. That is how viruses die off… they mutate into a weaker and weaker strain until they disappear.
What will you do if you become positive while you are here and cannot return? Can you afford a month in quarantine? How will you feel if you become so sick that you have to go to hospital and take up a bed that our sick residents can’t use? We now have the highest infection rate in the world. It’s hardly the sort of place you would want to come for a relaxing vacation.
Stop being so dramatic – it is more likely that a vaccinated tourist will end up in hospital because of a car accident than covid.
Go hide under your bed and let the rest of us get on with life.
@11:34am What would you do if you arrived in the states and got sick? We have about 12 people in hospital for covid, non of them in ICU or on ventilator and 80% of them are un-vaccinated.
Every visitor has to be vaccinated so if they do contract covid, chances are they won’t be hospitalized leaving lots of space in the hospital for the non-vaccinated who are very likely to be the ones cluttering up the hospital.
So many businesses have closed??? You make it sound like we have buildings shuttered all of the island. Come on down and see us and you will find that this is not true. Yes some have closed but others have stepped in to the void particularly in the restaurant business giving us more choices.
Deckers, Calico’s, Royal Palms, Catch, Lighthouse, Eduardo’s, Eagle Ray’s, Lobster Pot Dive Center, a lot of the tourist shops…and many of the Kirk’s. Not too much.
Who had the idea to base everything around lateral flow testing, then have about a dozen kits on the islands???
There should be hundreds of thousands here, and they should be free or heavily subsidized.
Designating LFTs as a key part of managing Covid when there are no LFTs available is a key part of ‘the plan’. Keep up!
half a dozen kits? Exaggerate much?
It might be an exaggeration, but unless you possess the proper social iron, you won’t be able to lay your hands on any of them. I’ve been trying to purchase a dozen since they came out. What I hear is that they were here, and they were there, but dangitall they sold out. Every. Single. Time. I want them to ensure that the people I am around in the course of my work aren’t endangered by my presence (service industry).
This is a piss-pore way to “ensure our safe roll-out”.
The naked dishonesty that we walk around and pretend isn’t in our face every single day is exhausting.
A mask is a new amulet.
This pandemic has progressed well beyond a medical crisis and morphed into a pandemic of the OCD inflicted and severly uninformed. The rest of us are having to play along. For how long?
@8:06 Sounds like you are off your meds again.
Surprised it is only 194, given how highly infectious Delta is. Guess the high vax rate and suppression measures are working.
Keep in mind that symptomatic people calling in to the government line are being told not to get tested. Difficult to say what the true numbers are.
Also, HSA give option to report or not so real numbers much, much higher
I’m reliably informed that this weekend and recently there are hundreds of people unmasked partying all night in lillies and other such bars and restaurants.
And I still see people not sanitizing when they enter shops or wearing masks half on and pushing forward not social distancing at supermarket checkout queues.
Whilst the are some who may do everything but be just plainly unlucky and catch Covid, the vast majority of these cases are likely self inflicted,,, not doing your utmost to legend the chances of catching or spreading it, or in some cases choosing to be unvaccinated.
Why should the rest of us ever have to do quarantine in return travel if jabbed or face restrictions locally, if we are double jabbed and taking precautions?
Currently I just go to work, home, the odd meal out and the supermarkets, fully masked, sanitized in and out, and social distanced. You’d be mad not to.
We should have vaccine passports – there is no fair basis for the vaccinated currently having equal rights to vaccinated – but otherwise people need to stop blaming the government and take responsibility. Covid never going away and it’s in the public to look after themselves.
With you most of the way through your post, but government’s refusal to issue vaccine mandates, mask mandates, and other measures sensible governments have been doing is on them – and the money people our politicians they answer to while they ignore the rest of us.
Really, it is on you. Do you need a government to tell you to wear a mask or to stay away from a crowded spot when these have been the covid protocols since March 2020? I hope you are not an adult. If you are, you have a lot of growing up to do.
No. It is not down to me. It is down to my employer who is requiring me to come indoors to a crowded place every day. Government should absolutely be telling employers what to do.
It amazes me how quick people are to take away people’s rights. If it were the case that vaccines provided lasting protection from transmission you’d have a stronger case but the science shows that this isn’t how it works. Spare me the links to two month old articles. There are plenty of studies that show that ability to stop transmission wanes over several months. Ditto the “you don’t know the difference between a preprint and peer review” crowd. Although I am pro vaccine, I don’t have to twist everything to pretend that it is something that it isn’t and I don’t ignore data that shows that the vaccines are not as good as we wish them to be.
That said, the most effective way to get reluctant people to vaccinate would be to tell them this:
If you get seriously ill and there is no availability in the hospital, priority will be given to people who have tried to protect themselves (unless you had a medical reason for not being vaccinated). This means you might not get oxygen and other treatment and there is a greater chance you will die.
Equally, insurance companies should exclude coverage for hospitalization from covid for unvaccinated people. Pay for your own monoclonal antibodies.
Banning people from public places is not the answer. Furrher erosion of people’s fundamental freedoms leads to tyranny. Why shouldn’t the government know where you are every second of every day. Aftet all, they need to know for “contact tracing”. It’s for your own good, you see.
Agree with you completely, except for the bit about insurance companies. Insurance isn’t a gift — at least it isn’t for me. Insurance takes up a significant portion of my income. I have paid out far more than I have ever used. I hope that is always the case. I am vaccinated. If a person pays their premium, they should realise full service. Insurance is like betting against yourself and hoping you lose.
I am in support of CINICO becoming nationalised; broader based of customers, presumably cheaper costs with better benefits. Do you really think our elderly and others should be compelled to pay their own if they are hospitalised from Covid-19? After having paid insurance all their lives? I think that is a bitter little pill to swallow.
You don’t need an article to see that unvaccinated people pose a larger risk to spreading covid because you can see it from the results released here. A larger percentage of unvaccinated people have tested positive in comparison to vaccinated people so unvaccinated people are catching covid at a greater rate. So it is more likely that there is someone with covid in a room full of unvaccinated people than a room full of vaccinated people.
You are also advocating for limiting peoples fundamental freedoms by limiting their access to proper healthcare. Fine, there are a lot of limits on our freedoms for issues surrounding public safety, but a restaurant seems more appropriate than a hospital.
Tourists should not bother booking a hotel room and should just book a room at the clinic. A PCR test upon arrival, test on day 2, day 5 and day 10 ( day 10 probably won’t happen for most tourists). For those US tourists, they need a PCR test on their way home and if it is a 6-7 day holiday will fall probably on day 4, 5 or 6.
Would covid even show up in that short of time? Doubt it. Most likely over the top with testing and waste of time.
Chill – There is no PCR on arrival although that would be a good idea.
The LFTs are optional as there is no enforcement. PCR results can be purchased on line by anyone with access to the internet. Even people infected with Covid can come, spread the virus and leave without hassle.
They don’t need at PCR test on the way home, a negative LFT will be accepted, at least by the US.
Please provide your source for that statement.
What rock have you been living under?
It’s flipping common knowledge at this point. You could check any U.S. Gov’t website or even the U.S. Airlines.
If you are an American going on vacation you can even take a test pack with you and do the test on camera – a “virtually guided test”
https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/travel/covid-testing.html#to_us
Just because you want something to be true or untrue doesn’t mean it will be.
Who.
Cares.
If COVID was so scary all the most important world leaders wouldnt meet in a room together with no masks. The age demographic of all those old $hits is 60+ atleast
Thanks for showing up to my ted talk.
Clearly you are not paying attention. There was only one $hit not wearing a mask in the photos I have seen. Everyone else is rational.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/05/bit-like-a-clown-boris-johnson-makes-impression-cop26
Panton is seen in a photo with Prince Charles on local media, not a mask to be seen,
But since neither of those two are “world leaders” I guess you are technically correct
Stop watching Fox News!
We should erect a sign at the airport to greet tourists starting November 20th: Welcome to the Covid Islands.
Maybe they should do that at Tampa Walmart, also?
@11:06am..I get your drift but unfortuantely, no anti-vaxxers are allowed int the USA. Just like Cayman requires visitors to be vaccinated so does the USA.
No Walmart for quite a few this year.
Everyone understands what we are doing is insane, right? There was no actual need to do this. We are trading Caymanian lives for limited tourism dollars, and travel ‘convenience.’ Anyone who cared or dared to understand knew what was going to happen. We are racing downhill, accelerating, and the bridge is not there. Anyone care to share with the Caymanian people what the expected price is?
You are more likely to get covid from your neighbour right now with the borders closed than a vaccinated tourist who has recently tested negative when the border opens.
Not the point. We have accepted Covid into our community to facilitate the return of short term, quarantine free, tourism. We were wrong to do so.
Please go get vaccinated and stop having a panic attack. One would think that when tourism returns that we will be bringing in plane loads of covid infected people. Visitors will need a negative PCR test before arriving and another when they are leaving. Many stay no more than 5-7 days.
Look at the ratio of travellers with covid versus the community cases. I think I feel safer with the tourists.
Wait till next week we be having 500 per day the way town is today. Full of everyone going nowhere just mingling. Good luck
If you stay out of crowded places, wear a mask and social distance that chances of getting covid become more limited. A vaccination adds another layer of protection. It has been said a million times. If you are still partying it up at lillies, you are asking to get covid.
We traded a free society that was travelling between islands with no restriction for this, and the border isn’t yet open.
This is a poor trade, and not beneficial to the average resident on any of the islands.
And if you believe that 1:43, that is part of the problem. People just weren’t being tested, but plenty had infections.
@1:43pm Sorry, the Brac and Little Cayman have gotten old for me. If you don’t want to get vaccinated and do the the things to slow down the spread of covid, that ‘s on you but the majority of us have done everything to protect ourselves including, wearing our masks, social distancing, washing our hands and yes, getting vaccinated.
Every Tom, Dick and unvaccinated Harry are coming up now with every excuse in the book because they failed for the last 18 months to do the things to protect themselves. Now they expect us to stay locked down for them in a tri-island bubble because they are not allowed to travel anywhere else in the world..Guess what we are not going back to those days to protect the few of you that wouldn’t listen..Maybe now Dr. T can keep you all alive with Ivermectin. I heard he just ordered a whole case of prescription pads and are handing them out like candy in Savannah..Go get you some.
Where did I say I was unvaccinated?
I also have no use for ivermectin.
Assume much?
It is an outrage that thousands of people are being required to work together in offices in this environment when much of what they do can be safely and effectively undertaken from their homes.
particularly true when most schools and other government buildings don’t have HEPA filters on their AC systems resulting in widespread dissemination of Covid aerosols.
Wear a mask and sit apart. Problem solved. Oh, and if you are all vaccinated, even better.
If an N95 was being worn all day, you might have some basis for your argument. They are not. Very few are masked at all.
I think HSA need more staff. Because waiting for the test results is taking toooooo loooong. My aunt didn’t get any answer back from the HSA not until after waiting more than 72 hours. And a friend of mine told me they lost his test results… so he has to do another one! Can someone please tell me, is government doing something to improve the timing of these test results and its processes?
I applied to help out. I’d be willing to help with the HSA admin, call people, enter data into the computer etc. But I am not Caymanian, I am a dependant of a person with PR, so I was told sorry, Caymanians only.
Perhaps that is why they are so seriously understaffed. They are waiting for all the unemployed Caymanians to apply for the job.
I believe the technical term for what we have right now is Sh!t Tonne.
12.25% Test positivity
272 cases per 100,000 of population (100k/71.1k x 194)
Most other places in the world get concerned with these types of numbers and implement additional public health measures even in a highly vaccinated population.
Maybe we should be told if we are adopting a different strategy than what has been disclosed previously.
If you go to the Border Reopening segment of http://www.ExploreGov.ky you might learn that Dr. Lee has the final say:
“Transition between phases will be determined by the Chief Medical Officer’s assessment of prevalence rates in main Cayman Islands travel markets, local vaccination rate, prevalence of variants of concern, levels of hospitalisation and death rates.”
What might be the determining factor or trigger that the good doctor should be considering?
“The Trigger for Intervention
As restrictions are relaxed, Public Health will continue to monitor the local prevalence rate and the spread of COVID-19. The trigger for introduction of Public Health intervention in all phases will be two non-related community clusters requiring hospital admission.
At all times, the safety, health and wellbeing of the people of the Cayman Islands remains the Government’s priority”
I find it very comforting to know that apparently all of the cases requiring hospital admission are related to each other. Otherwise [the premier, health minister and CMO] would surely have put more restrictions in place.
That is a very neat almost magical trick given that we had hospitalizations from two different islands, but I guess the official story is that the everything is being traced back to Northside and the “drug canoe” at this point…
Thank god they caught the raccoon though, that could have caused all sort of problems!
The trigger points you refer to were published before the last election. The new trigger relevant to PACT decisions is, ‘when the cabal tells us to’
Hey “cabal” guy. You seem to think that PACT is acting at at the whim of big business. Just curious to know if you believe that it would have been any different had PPM formed the goverment?
It seems to me that big business isn’t behind anyone in this government save perhaps McKeeva.
10:53 is right. Re-open Cayman is ruling government now. I don’t know what PPM would do but PACT was supposed to be different. That is what they were supposedly elected for. The people’s government not big businesses government. Dr. Lee is the scape goat. All of these years and you all still can’t figure that out. Have you all seen any politicians go to jail? A lot of civil servants are just scape goats. The politicians make all of the decisions and then the man/woman on the bottom is the scape goat.
Reopen Cayman are still asking people to pledge that we are ready to reopen SAFELY. We are not. We never were. The idea that’s this was ever going to be safe is, and always has been, a nonsense. Nevertheless, they have persuaded the government to go along. Many appear to have been misled into believing that this was going to be safe, and that there was no alternative. There were alternatives including welcoming many long term visitors into a safe and maintained bubble. Whether negligently, recklessly, or intentionally, acts are being taken which are bringing about the spread of a contagious disease. Such acts appear to be crimes under our penal code. If they are crimes, (and even if not) they appear imminently near certain to result in death. The only question is how many. The suggestion that this is safe by people who know otherwise should be the subject of police action.
Well written. Thank you for posting.
No matter how this is played it’s a national disgrace! No matter how many vaccinated or unvaccinated speeches It makes the whole lockdown nightmare look pointless and all because some people who come come to our shores do not respect our culture our laws or rules. This corona virus will do untold damage to more than our health and the consequences will linger for a very longtime. Some in our political leadership just don’t get it .
@11:14am it is not the people coming to our shores that are causing the high community spread right now. It is us. It is hard to understand why people just don’t care anymore. Wash your damn hands, wear your masks, don’t have parties, social distance and for God’s sake go and get vaccinated. We are not in a bubble anymore and we are not going back to one..Get used to it!
Our culture is literally not respecting laws.
We all know people who think something doesn’t apply to them because they are Caymanian.
They higher up they are or more special they feel the less anything applies.
The community spread currently is not the tourists. Put the blame where it belongs. I know that is very hard to do, but the island isn’t open yet. Forget the t-shirts and wear the masks.
I hope the HSA is cancelling all Christmas Leave and preparing its staff for 12 hour shifts, 7 days a week, instead of 8 hour shifts 5 days a week.
Just sat outside doctors hospital.
Why are healthy people stood there getting tested?
You aren’t ill, please stop
They are there because they know, like me, that they have been closely exposed to someone with COVID the past week.
Credit to them.
and you know they are healthy, how?
Why are you sitting outside of Doctors Hospital looking at “healthy people?” Sounds creepy to me..
Do you think people are standing in line to be tested, for fun?
It is good to see that the government intends on being more timely in reporting the Covid numbers. Armed with good data and the ability to properly interpret data, the public can form fact-based opinions and make informed choices. Informed voters are in a more capable position to relate to our politicians their opinions and desires for policy to address Covid issues.
It really seems like the government plan is to just let it rip through and kill whoever is weak. Quite a change from the previous high protection. I will no longer go to bars or restaurants or crowded places which are high risk areas. Each of us have to protect ourselves as best as possible now. Even though I have had the shots, there is no telling what this virus will mutate to. Remember the shot does not guarantee anything, it only lowers risk. Even the CDC is saying it is only a few mutations from being vaccine resistant.
What would your plan be?
Lock it down. Free ourselves from the virus. Reinstate and protect our bubble. Allow extended stay tourists through quarantine. Allow shortcuts through quarantine for daily tested Business travelers. Create an automated and effective track and trace system. Mandate vaccination of frontline workers. Dial back the stipends to those who can and should be training into other industries. Implement vaccine passports for indoor dining, cinema attendance, office workers etc. charge elevated health insurance premiums for this who choose, for no good reason, not to be vaccinated. Save lives. Take commercial advantage of our bubble status. That is what the basis of my plan would be.
Sooooo…you want to go back to March 2020? Ridiculous. Wear a mask and social distance and ffs, stop stressing.
I love your plan. My plan is the same. Wish we were in charge and life was back to the way it was just a few months ago. I was happy then.
Where were you seven months ago? You know, you can’t just go around making sense. That will get you nowhere. You have to agree with the proper people and their agendas to get elected.
You forgot the most important thing, ban dominoes. Hopefully at some point you will realize your plan would never work.
12:13pm..that is your plan..Lock us up again with more restrictions..Lord help us. Glad you are not in the government! Even the Progressives could possibly come up with something a little better than that…well, maybe not..
It wouldn’t include an honor testing system for sure. People who can would work from home and more health inspections on bars an restaurants. Wiping a table down with a dirty rag and laying unsanitized silverware and glasses is a great way to keep the spread going.
Why would you go to crowded places to begin with? Why haven’t you been protecting yourself all of this time? I don’t get this, it’s like you have been on vacation from the virus. The virus will be around for a long time, please wash your hands, social distance and wear your mask. You are likely not vaccinated so take extra care to ensure you keep your self healthy and prepared just in case, covid comes knocking..
Total vaccinated death total remains zero.
I am beginning to think that ‘the plan’ is simply to get everyone on all 3 islands infected as quickly as possible following which the survivors will be forced to stand at attention waving flags as infected tourists start to arrive on 20 November. Why else would government refuse to implement any of the measures that slow Covid spread known to all governments possessing for than a collective 3 brain cells?
The tourists will not be infected. They will be vaccinated with a negative PCR test upon arrival. They will be wearing masks on the plane and thru the airport. They will be more used to wearing masks than residents. They are used to social distancing. The tourists that arrive unvaccinated will be sent to quarantine which is nothing different than what is being done now. Stop your nonsense.
Remember, HSA give people the choice to report it or not if you call them after a positive LFT. The real number is going to be way higher.
But no deaths yet so bash on. A mandate for everyone who enters a public place to be vaccinated and we’ll live with it just fine but we’re a bit sloppy around these parts.
Do we have any monoclonals available yet?
I will be giving my government stipend to that good West Bay christian lawyer to stop that as well, we don’t need no more mono, homo, or bono stuff coming here. It’s against our human rights and the Constipation.
Humerus – no bones about writing that.
Cute. That was a good comedic break.
Thank God somebody can inject a little humor here. 🙂
The learn to live with it/reopen cabal will say this is totally expected-an acceptable risk, mind you. Empathy and reason seem to be slipping away in the relentless pursuit of money. Recent history shows that vaccinations, masks, social distancing and isolation are effective, and that all are needed to be effective in combating a pandemic.
Cayman isn’t unique. Use the proven methods to protect the people who do not have the resources to flee. Place more value on people rather than profits. Life is short, the money is eternal.
All societies have taken this decision. It’s not just the “reopening cabal” that feel this way. I do agree that we shouldn’t put tourism above the welfare of citizens but at some point you have to weigh the costs of normal life against a few people dying. We do this all the time. We could have speed limits of 25mph everywhere, ban cigarettes and fast food, but we don’t do that and it directly or indirectly will lead to more deaths than covid.
The problem with your line of thinking is that covid is endemic and will be with us for years if not forever. There is nothing to wait for that will change anything.
…”weigh the costs of normal life against a few people dying”…
Are you willing to be one of them? Would you willingly give your life for the benefit of those who make money from tourism? OK for you to die so the rest of us can live this normal life you speak of?
Or is it OK if those lives lost are just people you don’t know and don’t care about?
We had normal lives before covid came back to the island. No masks, no infections, no restrictions. Just a nice easy quarantine on arrival. It was a small price to pay for a normal life.
What we have NOW is not normal.
Thank you!
It’s stupid to ask whether I am willing to die for tourism. But ok, I’ll play your game. Yes, I am willing to take the chance that I, someone I care about and/ or someone I don’t care about might get seriously ill or die rather than close the islands forever. It doesn’t mean I lack empathy. It means I understand statistics and trade
I agree things were great before and we were very lucky to have the 18 months of safety.
It’s too late now in any case. I don’t think we could eradicate COVID from our shores even if we locked down for 2 months.
I also disagree with the current policy of not enforcing public health measures and just letting this spread like wildfire. If we do nothing to slow this the reopening is irrelevant.
What’s the endgame? Or is there none? Bubble forever? If that’s what you’re advocating fair enough. Because of the unusual nature of Cayman’s economy we could probably pull that off for a while longer but not forever.
You were living in fantasy land. People were infectious and had no clue until everyone started getting tested. It has to do with people not wearing masks and being in large crowds. Nothing to do with tourists. They are not in the community. Stop the blame game, especially when you are blaming the wrong group.
@11:53am being locked down for over 18 months was not normal, that was putting off the inevitable. Do you really believe that mentally, physically and financially, we could survive living like that until covid is obliterated from the world.
Please go get vaccinated so that we don’t have to worry about locking you up in a hospital room or possibly the mental ward..
Actually no society has chosen this decision. We are the first. The others had no choice. Covid overcame their defenses. We have intentionally lowered ours to let it in. It is inexcusable. Dollars for daughters.
Other island nations could have chosen to impose the same conditions we have and chose not to.
Others could more strongly curtail freedoms of their citizens in exchange for saving the maximum number of lives but chose not to.
Dollars for daughters and one life is too many are easy to support in principle on an anonymous message board but unfortunately very hard to implement in practice.
You can call people monsters all you want but governing a country requires balanced decision making and risk/reward analysis all the time. It also involves life and death decisions.
We could have maintained a zero Covid policy AND let tourists in the rights shortened and monitored quarantine. We never even tried it.
The borders are not yet “open”.
We have Covid-19 here already, so obviously Covid-19 overcame our defenses too.
Law enforcement on expats but no enforcement for Caymanians have led to this. Here is your reward for holding yourselves higher than your fellow human beings. Learn. Evolve. Or not.
You’re so full of shit I can smell you from here. Reducing quarantine is what caused this.
No. Lack of adequate enforcement on the drug trade with Jamaica is what caused this.
If the rate of 1-2 new hospitalizations a day continues, HSA will be maxed-out at capacity inside the next 2 weeks.
@7:06am There are in total 12 people in hospital. Where did you get your statistics of 1-2 hospitalizations per day?
Math?
It is now widely recognised that Delta and Delta-Plus are spread primarily as aerosols. As a result the CDC has upgraded their mask recommendations. Given that in Cayman virtually no school or other public building has proper HEPA filtration on air recirculated by AC systems and the fact that most employees are forced to share crowded work spaces with people who think that they are immortal, masks have become very important to limiting Covid spread. Bottom line in the new CDC recommendations is that bandanas are useless, ordinary cloth masks are next to useless, NIOSH certified N95 masks are good. Some KN95 masks are OK although 60% of those sold in the US are now fake.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/types-of-masks.html#:~:text=When%20supplies%20are%20available%2C%20individuals,be%20prioritized%20for%20healthcare%20personnel.
Moving forward to opening Caymans’ border, SAFELY.
Thanks PACT, your members understand far more than the PPM could ever conceive.
Sarcasm I hope – otherwise – delusion
How is it safe when people are in hospital? People don’t go to hospital for a fun staycation. There will also be a lot of people who weren’t sick enough to end up in hospital but will still be sick for months or longer with long-covid. Work days lost, endless ill health, big medical bills.
Who is going to help them out?
The people with the hotels, tacky tourist gift shops and stingray tours? Will they be chipping in money from their profits to pay for the suffering of the regular people who don’t benefit from this?
No I didn’t think so. Happy to suck off the government tit to take money, but never willing to give any of it back (unless its in bribes).
You make some good points. I think if any tourism industry employer is struck down with Covid, we should add a 10% facilities fee and an 18% service charge on top of any of their medical expenses, whilst wishing them a speedy recovery.
This PACT Govt is doing nothing to address this situation. Just open up the borders and save yourselves millions of dollars. All the sacrifices made during the past year were made in vain. They rules concerning isolation and quarantine are inconsistent, hence the great increase in cases.
The real sacrificing has not even begun. Soon come though.
We are 80 per cent vaccinated. It’s time to
Open and perfectly safe to do so
Statements like the one you are making should be the subject of criminal sanction. You are literally playing a part in killing people. How many have to actually die before the safety element is no longer “perfect?”
Like your opening up idea now? This is amazingly the tip of the iceburg. It gets worse.
This is nothing. You are doing fine.
Dr Lee looking nervous lately with all these cases. Fluffing his normally perfect delivery.
Deep breath John
I don’t think CIG is following his lead any longer, and hasn’t been for a few months. I don’t have any inside information, just intuition. I think Dr. Lee looks exhausted.
So,12 I’m hospital. 8 of them unvaccinated, 3 already underlying conditions. You must be mad to not be vaccinated and too late now anyway… the sensible are onto our boosters soon.
Not everyone can’t take the vaccine. Please make educated comments.
The percentage of people who can’t be vaccinated is actually very very low. As in New Zealand estimated that it might be 100 people out of the eligible population (12+) in the entire country.
https://covid.immune.org.nz/news-insights/who-cant-have-pfizerbiontech-covid-19-vaccine
I know we have more than 100 people running around Cayman saying they can’t take it.
The point is that a large % of the people who say they “can’t” take the vaccine are just looking for an excuse. The actual % is incredibly low.
So yes the original statement is correct for maybe a handful of people here. But overall people are choosing to not get vaccinated for a variety of reasons. But this is a choice for all but a very very very small % of people.
Again…..this is not news. This is to be expected. Testing is being done now 3,4 or 5 times more than it was 18 months ago.
Just more fear mongering.
Can we stop the “Reopen Safely” radio adverts. They are misleading, and will likely soon insult the memory of the departed.
Yawn. Fix the damn dump.
I was hoping the transparent PACT might hold a press conference and give us some indication of where the clusters were, but now the clusterf*ck PACT can just say it’s everywhere.
Kenneth went silent because he couldn’t think of anything to follow-up his somber black and white infomercial, so I’m recommending the PACT team all dress up as caricatures of themselves with loony tunes voices at the next press conference. If they ever have another one.
Clusters? How the hell can you have a cluster on an island as small as Cayman where everyone pretty much interacts with each other. do you think if we have 5 cases in East End that they didn’t interact with anyone in George Town or West Bay just by going to work alone..Stop the foolishness.
Cayman COVID is now greater than India and china
@8:39am..are you listening to yourself?..Please go get vaccinated and ask them to top it up with an extra does of common sense.
The kits are not reliable. A waste of money!
And lives.
The only reason we aren’t now on the CDC Red List of dangerous countries is because it’s not been updated for quite a while.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/map-and-travel-notices.html
What perfect timing though. Just as we open back up to tourists, they are all advised not to come here. Certainly, the risk of infection here is higher than at home, and they may find themselves stuck on the island for far longer than they anticipated. Yet more infected people to take up our limited hospital beds.
I can’t believe it’s come to this mess.
Maybe if locals stick to isolation rules, wear masks, sanitise and practice social distance and get vaccinated?
Can someone tell me why incoming travelers still have to quarantine
Thy don’t from November 20 as long as vaccinated and negative test pre arrival (ie as long as they lose no risk) which is a good policy
Because locking down, which we will have to do when our healthcare system is overwhelmed, only works if we are maintaining an effective quarantine system. We cannot dismantle it and then simply turn it back on.
It is not November 20th yet.
vaccines work. Move on
If you are able to be vaccinated….smh. People with medical conditions cannot take the vaccine.please make educated comments.
Thanks
Very very few people cannot take the Pfizer vaccines for medical reasons, be surprised if there are more than 10 in total I’m cayman
What social media site supplies your information? Most claims that people can’t get a vaccine for medical reasons are bogus. The people who most need vaccines and boosters are those with severe underlying medical conditions- which is why they go to the front of the line.
https://covid.immune.org.nz/news-insights/who-cant-have-pfizerbiontech-covid-19-vaccine
Why testing tourists so many times when we will be vaccinated, most of us triple vaccinated? We need test to come down and to leave so all that middle testing is completely redundant especially if we are staying for short duration.
Don’t worry – the LFT testing is not monitored and is essentially voluntary. Government does not care if you spread Covid to locals.
On a short holiday we will be taking a PCR (to return) and a LFT on the same day. That doesn’t make sense. That is my only question for my family.
Stop with the part about spreading covid to locals. We are triple vaxxed with a negative PCR and more likely to get covid from traveling there than you from us, but honestly, we are not worried because we wear masks and social distance.
I don’t get this cabal Bermuda keep the borders shut narrative,
80% of the cinema is driven by expats working in financial services. There are no caymanians capable or qualified to take those jobs so that is a 25 year generational governemnt education policy change to shift the tide.
Every lawyer and accountant is double jabbed and wants the borders open.
I went to Burger King on Wednesday, Bacaro tonight, kfc on Tuesday, legends last night and Karoo then lonestar on monday, served by expats every time, all double jabbed, all want the borders open.
I go to kirks and / or fosters daily. Always served by expats, all double jabbed, all want the borders open.
I ordered new blinds from eddies decor and a new balcony from Hyde’s and sons this month… I admit I mandanted it but expats turned up, all vaccinated.guess what they said… they want the borders open.
Maybe – but the vast majority of the electorate does not.
No worries though – PACT only listens to the cabal and they want money with all the downsides going to the electorate.
At what expense?
Elitist rubbish, using a broad paint brush to paint Caymanians as mentally inferior to work in financial services. There are tens of thousands of locals that could easily work in finance and if you and your company truly cared about the island, why not begin an initiative to train them for these jobs? Or would you rather that they stay in menial paying jobs to serve you and your ilk?
You can’t hire a foreign worker for a vacant job that a caymanian is able and wants to do, and applies for, so seems you are wrong. Blame the governemnt and their education system.
God, I wish what you wrote were true. Rather, it is only what the law says. Not how we actually do it, especially when dealing with the cabal.
10’s of thousands just waiting for the financial service jobs?
How many Caymanians are there? We don’t actually know but if it is 40,000, which it is not, back out children, elderly, disabled. Call is 25,000 at that point.
Now go look around at those 25,000 and tell me what % are suited/able to “easily” work in financial services. I will give you a hint it isn’t 50%.
So let’s say 10,000 Caymanians are easily able to work in financial services. Guess what they already work there because the money is good, the jobs are indoors and relatively easy compared to say construction or tourism. Yet we still need lots and lots of expats for the industry.
It isn’t elitist it is called reality
Your post is so wrong, on so many levels. In any ever, you seem to only be supporting an expat economy. Did you really mean say that you mandated Hyde’s only sending expats to assist you?
You understand that the people you are so concerned about and whose view you contend to represent do not have elderly parents or immuno-compromised siblings living here? You understand that you are asking (attempting to mandate that) some of your hosts sacrifice their lives for your convenience?
I think we may have made a mistake welcoming you. Our borders are open. You could leave. I am not sure anywhere else should take you, but that would be up to them.
You’ve got more money than sense
When was the last time you were tested, Mr. Don’t-Care-About-Anybody?