Phase 4 success depends on rapid testing
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government has updated conditions of Phase 4 of the border reopening plan, detailing what will happen later this month when fully vaccinated visitors as well as residents will be allowed to enter the Cayman Islands without quarantining. Lateral flow tests (LFTs) will form a critical part of the success of the plan, although these test kits are currently in very short supply and when that shortage will be addressed is not clear.
According to the details published on the official webpage of the reopening plan, vaccinated people who are no longer required to isolate will need to test themselves every three days for the first ten days after arrival.
All travellers still require a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of arrival and after that vaccinated travelers will need to do their own test on days 2, 5 and 10 and report any positive cases in their households.
But while children are getting LFTs from school, parents and other people who need to test regularly are struggling to source their own kits. CNS has asked about the general supply of the rapid home test kits and we are awaiting a response.
“The government has continued to put into action the policies and regulations that will create a smooth transition into Phase 4 of the reopening plan,” Premier Wayne Panton said, as he encouraged people to use the government’s website as the official source of information, resources and guidance during this transition.
CIG has not said if it will be supplying the tests to travellers on arrival, and if so how much they will be charged, or if they will be expected to source their own. Several retailers are now taking advance orders on social media, so it is not clear how secure the supply will be to ensure the safety and success of the quarantine removal.
Government has also tweaked some of the conditions relating to entry for those who will no longer need to isolate. This includes children between 12 and 15 from countries where they may only receive one dose of the vaccine, unvaccinated adult travellers and travel parties with unvaccinated minors.
No unvaccinated adult visitors without ties to the islands will be allowed entry. Adult Caymanians, residents and work permit holders, as well as property and business owners and family of residents can enter, but they must quarantine for14 days, as will adult visitors and parties arriving with unvaccinated minors.
Those who are vaccinated but arriving from countries with non-securely verifiable vaccines or where the vaccination rate is less than 60% for the first dose will also need to quarantine for 10 days.
Everyone over the age of ten who is isolating at home or at an approved residence will also be required to wear a GPS tracking device.
All travellers are still required to apply on the Travel Cayman Portal and will be issued with a travel certificate that is required for entry. The application process for those coming to Cayman from 20 November is expected to open on the government site at 9pm Monday evening.
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Category: Local News, Travel
I have been stuck in isolation for the past 16 days after contracting covid.
Symptoms lasted 4 days and i am double vaccinated. Cant get HSA on the phone because it looks like nobody works there. If you send an email, they will reply 3 days later telling you someone will call.
This is a joke, if you cant handle this many cases, and testing takes so long, how are you going to open the island.
Nobody knows what they are doing, 0 common sense, and horrible policies just show the remarkable ineptitude of the government and shows how far of they are from reality.
Yes let’s go back to the covid and mask free existence we had with 14 days quarantine
Watching the government’s “plan” unfold reminds me of one of the first songs I ever learned…
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E…… Mickey Mouse …
mickey mouse wears a cayman islands wrist watch…
No tourists till 23 – it is going to take that long to get the past weekends Covid numbers.
There’s an error in the article in respect of children who can currently only have the first vaccine dose (which is the case in the UK). The official position is that now anyone under 18 to whom this applies is exempt from quarantine, not 12 – 15 year olds as stated above.
Rapid testing requirement is the surest way to close every businesses down in Cayman.
So what’s your plan?
Seal the borders. Stamp out Covid. Return to normal life. Admit tourists and Business Travellers through a shortened and monitored quarantine, with an effective track and trace app. Institute vaccine passports. Continue to grow our economy. Not damage it.
You are living in the past – we have to open. Covid is not going ANYWHERE for years to come. Return to normal life? This is the new normal – get used to it! Businesses cannot thrive without the borders open and peoples mental health is deteriorating. The government cannot win either way so lets just get vaccinated, wear masks and minimise the risks where we can and get on with the new normal.
Do you think living like this is ok? I feel like a prisoner wearing this mask and having to bathed in hand sanitizer each time I move about and about. The new norm should be to protect the unvaccinated children and the most vulnerable. So place the necessary protocols in place and don’t be careless with people’s lives.
Yes also longer term permits, longer term tourism. Special remote working permits for 3 years. Lots of ways cayman had a unique advantage that the idiots at the chamber employers travellers and Tourism
Messed up with with their whining.
People were saying this before these clowns opened up to 2000 active cases. Give it 10 days and we will be 10k.
vaccine passports yes, the rest of your ideas don’t work. Tourists don’t come to quarantine for 7 days and then go home. business travellers often come for a few days only, make that 10 with quarantine…. doesn’t work. monitored quarantine…ok, but how do you monitor others coming to see people in quarantine? Clearly that was an issue in the past. how to grow the economy with sealed borders?
Stamp out Covid is a fools errand, the world (except us) has figured this out now. It’s here to stay, unless you plan to close the island forever.
Lol we had it stamped out for a year until crazy people like you wanted to bring it here.
If you think you’re going to test people on arrival you’re hallucinating. Can’t even get a call back from HSA in over a week and that’s testing a few thousand people. No one will come here to be in line for hours or days.
Can do lft to get quick result before leaving airport although PCR is more acurate.
My uncle has Covid and has been insolating at home. We have called the isolation support line and have not gotten a response or return call. HSA said that they would call to check on him every day. He is still waiting on that call, and we are now in week two. Good thing that our faMily can help him out, and we check on him. Otherwise, he could be in the room alone, or worse and no one would now until it was too late!!!!!!
Thank you. Proof that PACT is anything but ‘ready’.
Excellent job PACT, in a few short weeks Cayman has gone from ‘very desirable’ to ‘not a chance’ when viewed from both a private visitors perspective and that of an internationally recognised protection agency, – the best part about it all is our response
That is the secret plan…
I’m sensing there might be cause for friction between PACT and the Cabal People before their honeymoon is even over 💍
Wayne is not a stupid man but I suspect that he has to some times give in to others in his Cabinet to keep the wheels from falling off this government. What I want to know is whether somebody got something for getting this ridiculous opening ‘plan’ which excludes doing anything to limit the spread of Covid, through Cabinet. Otherwise what is happening is down to the highest level of incompetence ever witnessed in Cayman.
100% with questioning the purpose 9:19, – without swaying to speculation, at the root of it all, it just doesn’t make sense
there is no cabal…stop using stupid buzz words…
influencers, lobbyists, whatever you like, ‘cabal’ I’ll admit does bring a fun ‘buzz’ with it 🐝
Cabal denier – or maybe just a cabal lackey who is acting under instructions.
Let me guess – you arrived last Thursday?
It’s a convenient term for a group of people who own big businesses that won’t suffer the consequences of dire changes like you and me. I don’t personally believe that they are a concerted group who meet and scheme, however I can well believe there is a group of such folk who have the same interests, and perhaps put their coffers well ahead of the safety and health of the lowly unwashed resident.
For me, it was a no-brainer that once quarantine was reduced lower than 14 days (the bare minimum once) that we would likely have community spread. We read posts here that claim to know the source of the spread, ranging from Jamaican drug boats to elite private jetters. The TRUTH is that nobody really knows how it was reintroduced.
What we DO know is that for 18 months and change, those that wanted to enter the Cayman Islands (Arnie Hammer notwithstanding) were required to quarantine, and we had no measure of Covid-19 in the community.
People claim that without testing, we wouldn’t know, which implies that there is no consequence to having community spread. We will see in the next few weeks, because I doubt that we can do as other nations and reach a different outcome. Hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.
Stay safe; it’s a personal responsibility.
Got to love today’s Compass front page article stating what CNS readers have known for a week, we now have the highest rate of COVID-19 on the planet. We’re Number 1. We’re Number 1. Yay PACT!
Yay Caymanians who can not follow rules and laws. Still trying to blame visitors who have not even come yet for their own actions. You will now get just what you deserve. You want visitors back to save the economy and CDC is telling them to stay away from Cayman. Now you are the economy and you never fail to fail.
They opened up to pander to you. I would have left it at 14 days and given you a longer work permit tourism permit whatever.
Not sure which article to post this under, but if Gov’t can’t keep a running count of positives and post it on weekday mornings then the people involved in this need to be replaced.
Nothing has changed in the process, people are tested and the results reported. A very small number of people so far have been admitted to hospital and this also gets reported.
So why the delays? It will come out at some point and is information the community needs so just put it out there and if an occasional adjustment needs to be made so be it.
They have been doing this for the better part of two years before the recent failures to report.
I used to think our Government and Civil Service couldn’t get any worse, but now they are proving me wrong day after day.
In case anyone is interested, the CDC now lists Cayman as a Level 4 High Risk travel destination. No sensible tourist will have any interest in coming to Cayman at this point. Not to worry though, that was part of PACT’s ‘plan’ all along and shows that they are ‘ready’.
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/covid-4/coronavirus-cayman-islands
not really… sensible adult will weigh up the risk and act accordingly.
its like saying no one wanted to go to florida a few months back when their numbers spiked.
yoiur argument holds no water.
We need to test this theory – mandatory IQ test on arrival!
Cayman’s numbers don’t mean much, honestly. Never believed their Covid free line.
Will be vaccinated, mask in airport, own rental car, own condo, own lounge chair & not much interaction with many people after that I do not know and if I do will be socially distanced/ mask.
Is nobody capable of putting some perspective on things anymore? Where has rational thought gone? Risk assessment? Common sense?
You have nearly 2 years of data from all over the world to review for yourselves. You dont have to listen to CNN or QANON or whoever you wish to normally trust. You can really just look for yourself.
The first thing you’ll find is that there is nothing out of the ordinary to worry about.
And that’s all you need to know.
It really is time people got a grip. Just because someone at a table beside you, or a child in a classroom coughs does not mean you are going to die in 2 weeks time. The person has a cough. Or a cold. Or maybe a flu. Or maybe might test positive for covid 19. But it doesnt mean you will die. It shouldnt mean you do anything different than you normally would in a ‘flu’ season.
If you stopped watching the news, you’d not know there was anything remotely concerning. You may hear that some people are in hospital with a respiratory flu type bug. Ok. that happens all the time. Hospitals are in crises all the time.
Stop stressing. Try living. The fear and lack of rational thought is beyond belief. How easy it is to completely walk the masses into giving up their freedoms to avoid something that’s not going to hurt them.
Absolutely incredible.
Actually hospitals are not in crises all the time.
Cayman is not in a crises yet, but the recent trends are alarming.
Most places would be taking action at this point.
CIG is a joke and when they do things like fail to report the weekend numbers on a timely basis it creates an information vacuum that is filled with marl road rumour.
For all we know there could have been 800 cases since Friday and Panton could change is mind again about re-opening. Look I just started a rumour.
And unfortunately some of the “masses” may end up getting hurt by this.
Covid denial – November 2021 edition
Anyone who feels their journey is over just because they are vaccinated against the alpha strain from 2 years ago, hasn’t been keeping up with the mutations and stats coming in from all over the planet. Better than nothing for sure, but we need to check the overconfidence.
The Pfizer vaccine, with a booster, returns you to almost 100% protection against Delta variant. What is your point?
They opened up to pander to you. I would have left it at 14 days and given you a longer work permit tourism permit whatever.
Here comes potential chaos. PACT needs to be guided by sound strategy and policy to open safely.
Hopefully reopening is carried out successfully and safely. If not, I can see the PPM press release.
PACT please don’t let PPM be able to say they told you so. Careful and cautious is imperative.
PACT and sound strategy and policy parted company the day that the new Cabinet was announced at the earliest, or possibly the day that they voted themselves a raise at the latest.
The reopening is not the problem. Most tourists will come down for 5-7 days, wear masks when they can’t social distance (because they are used to doing so) and be on the beach, be with their family and not be out in big crowds. The problem will be with the community who will be traveling and coming back to gather with family and friends or the ones who continue to party it up in big crowds while not wearing masks.
Ok I’m done with this government. Stop with the “if” just open. I am a Caymanian who left the island for four months to all parts of the US and just recently returned. Everything went well, nothing to fear, wear your mask if you feel the need especially in closed areas, wash your hands frequently and make sure to moisturize as well. Take vitamins, eat healthy and just keep a positive mind set. People will catch COVID just like people will catch the flu etc. It’s not a death sentence and having every person do a Antigen Lateral Flow test every time is ridiculous. If someone has symptoms then seek a test. Have Pharmacies get involved. No need to have tourist take multiply test!! I only felt unhealthy one of the weeks while there, went to CVS they gave me a test and got results right away which was negative and just went about my business, turns out it was sinuses felt better the next day. I highly recommend if you can travel to get off the island so that your fear goes away and to help with the mental meltdown I’m seeing here which is so unnecessary. We need to move on everyone will be fine.
Tell that to the people in the graves
They not listening.
They didn’t listen when they had the chance either.
Why do ‘phases’ even matter now? How did we go from covid free to highest infection rate in the world? What other country has lifted all restrictions while the infection rate is the highest? We are asking tourists to come to the hottest covid spot in the world and limited medical facilities. Maybe the next award we win will be for the first breakthrough variant, because we seem to be doing little to prevent it.
We are also one of the only countries in the world to do nothing to try to bring down the infection rate. Many countries have limited capacities, mandated social distancing in public places, and use vaccine passports.
Opening up is not the problem, the problem is the lack of policies to reduce the local transmission that is already here.
The tourists will be vaccinated and have a negative PCR test and won’t be gathering in large crowds. It is the community who will continue to spread covid as they are not following the covid protocols and are still going to nightclubs, party boats, and not masking up.
I don’t think Cayman has got an internationally recognized QR code for their vaccine just yet, but the fine print of Phase 4 which will affect many people is: “Non-securely verifiable fully vaccinated travelers who travel from a country with vaccination rates that are 60% or less for the first dose”. Will still need to quarantine for 14 days. Is that fair?
That was very deliberate. This will exclude countries like Sudan and Yemen.
They are concerned about Jamaica.
peak clown world
Who cares. We are all vaccinated, what are we worried about, right?
CITA and ReOpen Cayman have gone very quiet. Any suggestions? After all, we are going through this mainly for you. You get the economic upside, we get the healthcare downside. Are you funding any of the testing requirements, or is that on us too?
They got what they want and at our expense thanks to PACT. Why would they say or do anything at this stage?
They are a bit busy doing the Civil Servants work for them at the moment.
This is something that we should definitely have for Phase 4 –
Guardian
“Covid-19 patients in Singapore who remain unvaccinated by choice will have to pay for their hospitalisation bills from 8 December, the government has ruled….
The new billing measure applies only to those who choose not to be vaccinated despite being medically eligible, and who are hospitalised and are on Covid-19 treatment facilities on or after 8 December, the Straits Times reported, citing the minister.
Those who are ineligible for vaccination, such as children under 12 years of age, and those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons will continue to have their bills fully covered by the government, the ministry said.”
Yeh they also have public flogging. Their healthcare is funded publicly, you cannot compare.
I totally agree with the original post. Government pays 10s of millions per annum for healthcare for those most at risk of Covid and others. The public should not be required to pay for those who volunteer to get Covid. Those with private sector plans will see their premiums go up if private insurers get stuck with the costs of Covid for those who volunteer to get Covid.
And Singapore is relevant to us how?
Effective policies that we could learn from – There are none so blind as those who will not see.
Lol. The unvaccinated who didn’t want to remove the 14 day quarantine as they knew the current situation would develop and who didn’t want to get injected with a treatment that is still undergoing trials and clearly doesn’t work now have to pay medical bills due to covid that people like you brought in?
I don’t mind if they flog the unvaccinated or the anti-maskers 🙂
And obese people who eat at BK and KFC 7 times a week will pay for their own healthcare costs as well. And smokers. And those who drink alcohol. And and and and………
We can work on that when the pandemic has passed.
They’ll have less regulars at that stage.
Tuesday morning and no Covid results posted since last week. Government was definitely ‘ready’ and ‘the plan’ is clearly working marvelously.
And people may well die in consequence. But there will be no accountability. Just an explanation that there was a lot of work that was entirely unexpected (because they must have covered their eyes to avoid seeing) and a promise to do better next time and to “learn” from the experience.
That’l teach em!
They can’t post results without the Premier on island, and he can’t come home until Nov 20 when he doesn’t have to quarantine.
He is here and in quarantine.
Coughing and spluttering…
What about the $100,000 that Don Seymour personally put up to drawn from those who both jabs by 14 October?
Was a winner announced? I hope a good person that needs it gets it.
I am concerned about there being enough capacity for hospitals to cope if this is just the start of mass community spread of COVID. Let’s hope not.
Ironic how COVID community spread occurred right before scheduled border opening.
We all want to get back to normal life as we knew it. Fingers crossed that that can happen safely.
It is much easier to lock the borders down than to open them up. Not an enviable task.
Where are the lateral flow test kits coming from? Who will the cost fall on? CI Gov? Caymanians and residents? Tourists? Will England assist with test kits?
1) You are right to be concerned about the health system not coping. I am too despite the claims that PACT is ‘ready’.
2) You have to have an amazing faith in coincidence if you believe that the outbreak of community spread and the decision to just let Covid rip has anything to do with irony – unless it is the irony of voting the way we did.
We wanted change and now we have it.
Lot of dimwit employers insisting the staff work in the office.
So still not open? Got it! No details on LFT. Tourists aren’t coming to deal with an unclear situation.
Actually all arrivals are pretested negative pcr.and all the tourists are vaxed. So chances of tham bringing and spreading is minimal. Yes if it was before our outbreak it was ok
Now with so many of ours there is higher risk of tourists getting from us .
But if they get we get bad name and issue of care. So better lockdown 4 wks.
What a mess! PACT are completely incompetent. It’s November 8 and they still haven’t provided the public with enough information. Who is going to pay tor these LFT for visitors?? So you have a family of 5 staying here for 2 weeks. Do you really think they will want to pay for their own LFT? It’s not like anyone will be monitoring them as to whether they report their results or not. I know most people didn’t take to the Progressives but they did a much better job and they had the experience and knowledge that PACT don’t have. I don’t care if you don’t agree with me on this one but this is going to be a disaster and we have these clowns in office tor the next few years?!?!! God help us.
Welcome to the world of clowns being in charge. At least your clown wasn’t sleeping at the climate summit.
This plan is Absolute nonsense. It’s unenforceable and impractical on multiple levels. It’s another insight into the idiocracy of this government.
It must be very successful if the PACT government, the very Transparent government, thinks there is no need to report new cases or update us about anything.
The date for reopen plan was set long before this current outbreak. Whenever large outbreaks occured other countries cancelled commercial flights.
Let us think a moment. All these positive residents might have come in contact with 5 to 10 times of the cases. Some of them are expected to be positive in next two weeks.
So if lock down for two weeks no more new infections. Another two week lockdown will make sure all infected to become non active. Thus we will have almost zero transmission. Then open up.
If we continue just like this the outbreak will last another two months similar to other countries although we are lucky being vaxed. If that is the intent then fine.
Does anything of importance happen rapidly in Cayman?
Status grants, LCCL licenses, planning permission. Shall I go on?
The title of the release misleading. If the LFTs are supervised then ok. Otherwise Rapid tests are helpful for self satisfaction only.
They are fine. But linking to Reopen plan success doesnt make sense along with all confusing statements and referring to webpage which has old info.
Need to be clear and practical.
PACT has handed us another guinea pig moment. No country on the planet is using LFTs this way to limit Covid.
LFTs that are not supervised are completely useless in terms of controlling Covid spread. Remember the ‘magic buttons’ that were supposed to allow ‘safe re-opening’? This part of the wonderful “PACT Plan” is just as useless if not more so.
I see that Cayman has now moved to a level 4 country by the CDC which indicates people should avoid visiting this country; although, if you do go make sure you are vaccinated and consider the risk is high for being exposed to COIVD 19
Very difficult to understand these releases and website.
Website still says 14 day for unvaxed–ok.7 day quarantine for verified vaxed. But this article says no quarantine for vaxed and pcr test on arrival.
What does it mean? Will the tourist be quarantined for 2 or 3 days until results are known. Then it says lft 2,5,7 days and report if positive.
Doesnt make sense. No tourist is going to do self positive report unless symptoms to avoid headache of spoiling holiday.
How public health is going to monitor and follow up.
Let us be practical.
Reasonable for not allowing unvaxed tourists.
Reasonable 14 day quarantine for unvaxed residents or their family.
Reasonable for pcr on arrival and quarantine until results available -but practical problems of tansport to hotel and staying in hotel quarantined for someone who came for 5 day vacation.
Possibly better to do lft on arrival at airport and release negative vaxed although rare possibility of pcr may be positive.
Recommendation of visitors doing lft 2 5 7 days of vaxed is equivalent of all vaxed caymaynians getting tested repeatedly. This would have been ok prior to this community transmission and outbreak but no use of that at this point.
Either above points to be considered or best option let the opening postponed. No point in confusing residents and visitors.
Here we are 9 PM on Monday evening with no update since the report of 8 AM last Friday which dealt with cases/hospitalizations etc from Thursday. If they can not get simple reporting right, how do they expect us to have any confidence in ‘the plan’?
So if I’m unvaccinated and wear a Cayman Tie I’m in?
Seriously, who thinks anyone is coming?
One can only look at the daily numbers and the delay on pcr testing results. Now add a couple of thousands tourists to the mix with 42 ventilators only available on island, what do you think is going to happen…..stay calm people!
Pretty sure we don’t have 42 ventilator machines. We might have 42 beds that can administer supplemental oxygen therapy. Around 20 of those consist of a temporary plastic screened crisis area at Health City that can add 02 to the central HVAC. This was laid out in early 2020. When those 02 bottles run dry, someone needs to be there to hook up a fresh one 24/7. Those patients can’t just hold out until someone gets back on shift. Our capacity, preparedness, and reliance will never have been tested like this.
Excellent post. Thank you!
“All travellers still require a negative PCR test on arrival”
Is that part of the old phase 4 arrival protocol that they intend to keep, because currently we don’t test on arrival anymore… Do we?
Wur aw doomed! Doomed ah tell ye!
won’t somebody please think of the children!!!!
phase 4 success depends on the cayman government getting out of the way and not restricting basic human freedoms.
I’ll concede I’ve become very cynical & derisive as these updates roll out but each time they seem to become more & more worthless. PACT appears to designate responsibility to the community but yet be in denial that any lack of progress might stem from their ineptitude in not having a grasp/being prepared of the situation. The ‘Phase four depends on rapid testing’ ruse is kind of like putting people in a plane without any fuel and asking them to fasten their seatbelts for takeoff 🤦🏻♀️
Why is it not good enough for fully vaccinated tourists also with a negative test before arrival here to have no further tests while here?
Are we that concerned about a full blown COVID epedemic?
We sure are going to make life hell for fully vaccinated tourists. DUMB
Going on vacation to a Caribbean Island is supposed to be a stress free enjoyable couple of weeks.
I can’t believe anyone would pay what it costs to fly and stay here, wanting to be subjected to the uncertainty surrounding testing waiting ,testing waiting ,for precious days of their vacation.
Exactly. Shame CITA has no appreciate of this fact.
I suspect the cancellations will be rolling in today. And the tourism industry will just groan – all that testing sounds like a lab experiment more than a vacation.
Debating about canceling our 2 week vacation which includes 5 airfare, hotel, rental car.Also already booked are our local transfers to airport. We were excited to visit. Not afraid of Covid as we follow protocols, but this confusion on testing isn’t setting right when reopening is so close.
Imagine if the island was covid free and you had to quarantine on nice safe facilities for 2 weeks followed by a 12 month tourism visa. Stay for up to 12 months
Here in the UK we’re all used to doing our twice weekly (free) lateral flow tests. They are ok at picking up symptomatic infections, but that’s about all.
Very hard to regulate.
Finally someone said it!
Anyone know what happens if you arrive on the 18th? Just do a 2 day quarantine or the full ten?
Thanks
Real question is why are returning residents having to quarantine.
The genie is out of the bottle.
I would like to know the same thing, I am not getting anything from travel cayman on this
Yep, The legislation says you go into isolation.
The obvious (and correct) answer is that the new requirements only start on the 20th, and all arriving before that fall under the current rules.
This is Cayman. Nothing is obvious!
Full ten. Wait two days and do none. They made it clear no breaking early for anyone….
Borders don’t open until the 20th, not the 18th. You have to follow the current rules in place.
So let’s ignore the constitution. All acts of government officials must be lawful, Rational, Proportionate, and Procedurally fair.
I believe you would do the 10 day quarantine. The quarantine at hotels is based on a package price of like a week at a time. Unless they will be changing that but when I called that’s what I was told.
No one in Cayman Islands really knows. You have to show up and see what’s on the menu for today.
Don’t do it unless you want the mental anguish for having to do something that makes no logical sense.
You would do the full 10 days.
No requirement to report negative tests so no reason to test at all. Do try to keep up.
And then all hell will break loose.
Complete chaos.
Does anyone think that someone who has very little or no symptoms but tests positive will turn themselves in and spoil their vacation. Lord help us.
Yes, they will reports as the PCR to go back to states needs to be reported and will be in the same week, so doesn’t make sense not to report.
you might be right regarding someone here for 5 days but someone here for 10 or 14 has every reason not to interrupt their holiday with quarantine/isolation.
In that case then people will only report a positive result at the end of their vacation as to not ruin the time they originally expected to vacay. Having to isolate on the day before you’re supposed to go to the states would extend your vacation and you would have got to enjoy your time on island before isolating… so yea. Noone that is asymptomatic will report that their positive.
Countries such as China used mandatory quarantines and enforced them strictly and the pandemic is seemingly over there. This, despite the pushback from the wealthy, but everyone will soon prosper in the end. The only ones that will prosper here are the wealthy. Ask yourself why.
You believe anything that comes out of China?
I believe Covid.
Do you think that is happening now?
Are people living in our community with no symptoms but testing positive on a LFT putting themselves in quarantine? Just sayn’ we have locals doing the same thing people are accusing tourists of doing…and those tourists are not even here yet.
Good point.
@6:14pm They should but sadly that is what our people have become. Why do you think there so many infections right now. Not all of us are ethical or care about each others health and well being.
SOOO true. I am vaxed and believe in masking and reasonable protective protocols. However, if reporting a positive test meant spoiling our vacation and suffering a major inconvenience in a foreign country, there is no way in hell that I would report a positive result if I or my family remain asymptomatic. I seriously doubt that I would even bother to use the test kits.
Thanks that is why we need 14 days quarantine . They could have had extended longer tourism stays and remote working. We all could have continued our maskless covid free existence but for dolts at the chamber and greedy short term clowns
Families are booked for travel. $10,000 plus. Nothing is clear. Starting to get that wishy-washy feeling. Government adding in the additional testing. OK. Is it bring your own? Is it pay for your own? Where do we call in results? What happens when day 5 is also the same day we need our PCR test to go home? Do we do both? Isn’t that redundant? Where do we go for our PCR test? How much? Is there a charge? Asking because many islands we’ve traveled to date, there was no charge as it was done at the hotel. Portal? Thank you.
Moving the goal posts again.
I am totally confused.
We have CDC issued cards and have had 2 shots plus the booster.
Will we need to bring our own LFT ?
Sea Wood, I was seriously looking at coming to Cayman with my family in December but now that the goal posts have been moved again wonder if it is worth all the hassle.
Vaccination cards, 2 vaccination shots and booster and it is still not enough.
Geez, you people need to look at what others are doing. Who needs all this hassle.
They don’t know what they’re doing. That’s why they’re at the top of the list in terms of cases / population.
You understand we are going to be literally “dying to meet you?”
Sorry about any inconvenience you may experience in the interim.
just bring them to be safe, they’re not that easy to come by here atm, maybe that will change, but maybe not.
Were you expecting it for free?
To date they only have 3 approved suppliers for LFTs and one of them you can’t even buy in the US to bring with. If they are in short supply on the island will they tell us to bring them. That works for me because I wouldn’t and say I did. They better get it figured out if people are coming in on the 20th.
If you are confused, you will be in good company when you come to the Cayman Islands, We are a country led by the confused and confounded.
Don’t need a PCR to go back to the USA just a 15 min rapid antigen test.
USA CDC and FDA have proved one you can do via video for international travel into the USA. eMed – https://www.emed.com
Nobody even knows if the airlines they travel on will be approved to fly to the island. They indicate that flights are open for requests about a month in advance of departure. So a month before your flight is to leave the airlines will put a request in to see if they are allowed to fly to the island. If not approved your flight will be canceled and then hopefully you could get a refund for your accommodations. Nothing but questions and very few answers!
If they reverse phase 4 on November 20 it would be ridiculous and the government would lose all credibility. No one is dying in hospital, the spread is here from Caymanians and residents (not tourists). There is no valid excuse to not open the borders on November 20. Concentrate on speeding up boosters – I would expect most people are past 6 months since second dose now (if they were intelligent).
If they move the goal post again, forget ever getting tourists, planes etc. No one will rebook and that means the airlines, too.
Wrong! Hatred of expats by those who vote and work for CIG is the driving factor here. They won’t allow expats until they can replace expat workers with only Caymanian unemployables. The Hotels are not yet open because they are not being allowed to rehire expats to help open and work until they hire Caymanians so they remain closed. When and if they ever open then visitors will have to get used to third world service.
The spread is there because of quarantine violations that arose from poor monitoring.
So my 9 year old son has a covid positive classmate and all my son has to do is a lateral flow test and if it’s negative, he can still go to school and we can live freely.
But my husband and I, (both of us vaccinated), travel with my son and we all have to quarantine for 2 weeks when we get back? Really?
How does that make any sense at all?
Why doesn’t government just implement the same lateral flow testing instead of a ridiculous 14 day lockdown?
That would make too much sense I suppose.
This is insanity.
I’ve been saying it since March 2020. Paranoid. PPM were petrified. All they did was copy the strictest counties despite false projections. It created an unhealthy and lasting fear here. I made the comment way back then it’s easy to take apart an engine and very difficult to put it back together. Many didn’t understand the analogy. Maybe they’re starting to clue in now. It’s truly embarrassing flying into this place. Sanitize every 20 feet. Go to 8 stations. There is NO way Cayman has the necessary mindset to open on the 20th! Doing so requires, logic, organization and execution. It just ain’t going to happen! I’m currently in travel quarantine and it is MORE strict / difficult than in July. It should be less! As to the person who arrives on the 18th – it’s 10 days. Why? Because our government doesn’t have the intelligence to distinguish between a person who flies in on the 20th and one who could (legally) walk out of quarantine, with similar tests, on the 20th.
What do you expect when we voted in IDIOTS to run this country! You get idiotic ideas and LIES!
at the end, with the way of voting here…you don’t know who your government will be…
5:46 a simple solution, – take your sons friend with you when you travel and everything will be fine
Your 9 year old needs to be vaccinated to travel unless you are going someplace else other than the USA. So the coming back thing really isn’t what you are saying.
NOT TRUE.
A 9 year old can travel to Canada, USA and all over the Caribbean just to name a few!
It’s insanity and it’s hugely unfair on children who are either missing building relationships with family or enduring weeks of being locked up. Especially when the children have already endured lock down and homeschooling and have had Covid and quarantined for the requisite 15 days.
Exactly!! The policy regarding travel with unvaccinated minors makes no sense. It only perpetuates families being apart and worsens the mental health toll on families.
Not yet insanity. Just plain old ignorance. Get used to it as it will never change here.
Common sense and scientific knowledge doesnt prevail. Appears somebody’s knee jerk reaction.
Hope Govt gets proper advice from WHO
Very few tourists are going to self-report a positive lateral flow self test. Maybe the odd one or two. Because the consequence of reporting a positive test is that you and your traveling companions will have to remain locked up for the rest of your vacation. Why would anybody do that?
Unless they so centrally that can be observed and verified, this is pointless and a waste.
The consequences for tourists are worse than that. They will be Locked up in their hotel room until they test negative.
We have people currently in qurrantine well over a month as they continue to test postive.
In the US, UK and most of the world where there is already widespread transmission the recommendation is not be be tested after a positive for 90 days. You are free to leave isolation on day 11.
It will only take one Fox news story of Americans locked up here for a month to destroy our reputation. Its incredibly short sighted that Gov continue to ignore this risk.
It would be my dream to be locked up for a month in Cayman. That would mean I would skip a month of winter of snow, ice and cold. Does the government quarantine have a sunny balcony?
@Anon – you are so correct and it will happen, likely sooner than we’d like. And it won’t necessarily be only Fox news I can see CNN jumping on that bandwagon. Holy cow what a cluster this is going to be, the lack of preparation is mind-blowing.
I’m fine with Fox News listeners staying away.
Part of the incredibly short sighted plan created from the wealthy and business community.
Tourists coming in double and triple vaccinated with a negative PCR test. The majority will be on island 5-7 days. They will need a PCR test to return if they are from the states. That will need to be done 2-3 days before departure so on either day 2-3 if a 5 day holiday), day 3-4 ( if a 6 day holiday) or day 4-5 ( if a 7 day holiday) at the very latest. Is the LFT really necessary or more of just an aggravating factor which will probably not show much if not done in honesty?
Let the highly vaccinated tourists who come for under a week enjoy their holiday and let the PCR on the way out pick up any covid.
CNS at the end of your article you state: “Those who are vaccinated but arriving from countries with non-securely verifiable vaccines or where the vaccination rate is 60% for the first dose will also need to quarantine for 10 days.” The CIG website actually states, “10 days quarantine for non-securely verifiable vaccinated travellers who are travelling from a country with a vaccination rate below 60% for the first dose of the vaccine.”
The information at the top of the CIG Phase 4 webpage reads,
“During this phase quarantine requirements will be removed for:
Securely verifiable fully vaccinated travellers.
Non-securely verifiable fully vaccinated travellers who travel from a country with vaccination rates that are 60% or higher for the first dose of the vaccine and where those travellers spent at least 14 days prior to the date of travel.
Caymanians/Permanent Residents who were fully vaccinated with an approved vaccine (locally or overseas).”
Not trying to be ugly, just wanting to make sure everyone is clear on the quarantine requirements before they start commenting.
Thanks, CNS for always keeping us informed and for asking the hard questions of CIG, when they give you the opportunity to ask.
CNS: I think the CIG website has not been updated as advertised. Check back tomorrow to see if it’s clearer.