6,000 in isolation as Omicron and Delta spread

| 25/01/2022 | 182 Comments
Cayman News Service
Molecular biologist at HSA Jonathan Smellie

(CNS): More than 6,000 people, almost 10% of the local population, are currently in isolation after testing positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus over the last week. Public Health officials have said the sheer number of people impacted by the virus is making it extremely difficult for them to meet all of the expectations relating to getting results out and speaking with people who are locked down.

In a virtual meeting with members of the media on Monday, officials reflected on the numerous challenges they have with the ongoing surge, not just with the very contagious Omicron variant, which is now the dominant strain, but a resurgence of Delta as well.

With so many people now confirmed positive plus anecdotal evidence that there are more people who are positive but not in the system, the surge of infections is causing numerous problems for the business community and the public sector. It is also having a detrimental impact on those tasked with managing the pandemic.

Chief Nursing Officer Dr Hazel Brown, a leading member of the Public Health team, explained that more than a hundred employees of the Health Services Authority alone are in quarantine after testing positive for the virus and several of them are Public Health staff.

Molecular biologist Jonathan Smellie, the HSA’s genome sequencing specialist, explained that while Omicron remains the dominant variant, Delta never went away and over the last two weeks the HSA lab is seeing a resurgence of this strain in the sequencing of samples.

At the end of last week, the average number of Delta cases was double the number recorded at the end of December. While it is too early to say with certainty what that means, it could have a more detrimental impact on hospitalisations, given that the Delta variant remains more virulent than its new more contagious rival, Omicron.

Officials were not able to say why Delta is picking up again but implied that within a small population it could just be the result of a small number of positive people behaving irresponsibly and spreading the strain that was always around at large gatherings.

The laboratory staff, like all of the teams within the Public Health Department that are part of the COVID management process, are pushed to the limit. Smellie said they can be running as many as 1,000 tests per day, and while they had originally attempted to sequence all positive cases, that is no longer feasible.

He said the lab was now focused on sequencing the samples with very high viral loads and people who are very sick as a result of being infected, as well as monitoring the return of the Delta variant.

Both Smellie and Dr Brown revealed that although they don’t have the figure yet, there have been a number of repeat infections, including people who have tested for multiple strains. While there have been no cases of people testing for Delta and Omicron or other strains simultaneously, people are being reinfected within a couple of months.

Interim Chief Medical Officer Dr Autalia Newton said that in time, Public Health will try to pull together the data relating to the vaccination status of the people who have had the virus more than once.

However, at present collating the data to establish patterns and learn about COVID’s behaviour here is limited by the day-to-day management of a very high infection rate, she said.

Explaining why it can take more than the hoped-for 24 hours to get results to people waiting to leave quarantine, Smellie said that there are more than 35 steps to be taken for each test sample. They also need to re-test samples randomly for safety reasons and sometimes re-test specific samples if there are unclear results.

Dr Brown said that the HSA is doing its best to recruit staff to fill the gaps but right now it is now begging for volunteers from the community who can help with notifying people of their exit results.

She said the department was well aware and fully appreciated the frustrations of people waiting on exit tests but pointed to a multitude of issues relating to the management of those in isolation that was pushing them to the limits.

Government officials insist its measure are working since hospital cases are not straining the capacity of the HSA to treat those patients while continuing to offer full services for all other patient needs. Nevertheless, the sheer volume of infected people is overwhelming Public Health, both with testing and managing their isolation.

The danger for government is that the impact of very tough isolation protocols, compounded by confirmation and exit testing delays, is impacting businesses, resulting in pressure being put on employers who test positive with a lateral flow test but are not ill to come to work anyway and not report those results.

This means that the spread of the virus will remain uncontrolled, creating a vicious circle of greater strains on health services and greater reluctance by the population to comply.

Dr Brown said that Public Health “is attempting to respond to all breach reports but she admitted that it was very difficult to deal with, given all of the other demands on the limited and understaffed teams.

During the media roundtable, officials confirmed that alongside the weekly more detailed data, which will be released every Wednesday, Public Health will return to regular releases of the daily count of new cases, hospitalisations and any related deaths, as well as an estimate of the number of people in isolation each day.


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Comments (182)

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  1. Courtney Platt says:

    To those who say “let it run”, I say you must not have a child under 12 years old. Until my 8 year old boy can be vaccinated I want the best controls we have to remain in place to slow the transmission. Yes, this IS killing even young, otherwise healthy children and I don’t want mine to be among them. My wife and I are fully vaxxed and boosted, mask and avoid unnecessary risks. Also, I don’t think anyone who has recovered from this disease but still has long-term debilitations would agree that everyone should just catch it and get on with life… nor would the mourners of over 800,000 dead in the USA.

    • Anonymous says:

      Wanting to protect your kids is natural. But look at the data – in the US 0.2% of deaths are in the sub 12 year d demographic. 2 in a thousand of those who die, and the death rate itself is nowhere near what it used to be. What are you going to do – stop your kids from going to school or socializing, which has its own impact on your child’s development.

    • Anonymous says:

      Courtney, your child will more than likely come out on the other end alive, well and with natural immunity all while being asymptomatic. It’s insane how you and your wife are fully vaxxed and boosted but “mask and avoid unnecessary risks”. You sure have a lot of faith in that booster. You’ve allowed the current inept government to instil unnecessary fear in you, my friend. I’ve recovered from COVID and I am unvaxxed. No debilitating long term issues. I hope you find peace in the fact that your child has a stronger immune system than you and I.

    • Anonymous says:

      I totally agree with you 11:14
      I would have to have had as my parents any of the irresponsible morons who say “Don’t worry about your child getting Covid. They will be just fine”.
      According to the The American Academy of Pediatrics(AAP), children can develop Long Covid after their Covid infection, even if they had few or no symptoms. The AAP list of Long Covid conditions in children include: breathing problems, cardiac issues, loss of smell and taste, developmental issues, mental fatigue, physical fatigue, headaches, mental and behavioral health issues and multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children.
      Bottom line: Keep being concerned for the welfare of your children and shut out the silly spewings of the Alfred E. Neuman “What? Me worry?” idiots.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Can someone explain the logic of waiting in this long line of cars with my child who’s positive while I’m still testing negative. I reported their positive LFT now we should only come back on day 10 to test out. I should not be confined into the small car with my positive family member.

  3. Anonymous says:

    May be the delta ‘surge’ is a bit like the Cayman Christmas postal service – where it seems like it’s gone (lost) forever, and then it shows up over a month after Christmas.

  4. Anonymous says:

    The freedumb movement of abandoning proven measures to prevent the spread is winning. These idiots have co-opted the dramatic agenda of “freedom” and want us to believe we live in a tyrannical society, much like the ridiculous Tea Party movement in the U.S. Dressing up like revolutionary war soldiers and playing make believe that a new Boston tea party would happen. Morons.

    Tyranny in Cayman? Nothing could be farther from the truth and the freedumb crowd, along with the CiTA one really isn’t that different at all. They have essentially declared the pandemic over or are minimizing it as just a cold or flu. This is what is referred to as gaslighting.

    Make no mistake, sick people are amongst us in every public space on the islands now. When we shop, dine out, or enter any spaces, you are risking infection, and adding to the spread.

    The inability of the human race, no matter where they are, to compromise for the good of all people has gone missing the last few years, and it will never return. Hyper partisanship will be our doom.

    And if you think this is maddening, just wait until the effects of global climate change strike. Hal of of us will believe that we should prepare for it now, and the other half thinks it’s fake news.

    • Anonymous says:

      100% TRUE. Unfortunately the uneducated have the same audience as the educated on social media, and false information spreads easily and quickly between them.

      • Anonymous says:

        Educated do not curse or call names. 7:52 appears can’t get his message across without insults. He is embarrassing himself.

        • Anonymous says:

          Actually studies have shown that highly intelligent people swear more often.

        • Anonymous says:

          @10:23:
          The education of morons is tedious and often unsuccessful. Best just to do what 7:52 did and call the fools out for what they are. That way the rest of the population is educated to be on the lookout for idiots.

    • Anonymous says:

      Please seek psychological help.

    • Anonymous says:

      Good to be so cheerful at 7.52am.

    • Anonymous says:

      I love the way you talk of hyper partisanship but then insult those who oppose your views as being freedumb, morons and comparing them to the US tea party movement. It is highly ironic that you display exactly the same tendencies as you accuse them of!
      I cannot speak for anyone else but I do not agree with the way Public Health are managing this and I am nothing like the image you represent. It is now clear that Public Health are out of their depth and cannot cope with the volume of isolated people. We have government ministers threatening people with legal action for not taking an exit PCR test when many other countries have reduced their isolation periods to 7 days or less without the need for an exit PCR test.
      Any opposition to the current Cayman regulations is reasonably questioning why our regulations and protocols are so onerous and yet you dress this up as extreme. It appears the only person with extreme views here is you!!

    • Anonymous says:

      Agreed 7:52:
      Most of these freedumb morons are swallowing and mindlessly throwing up the putrid tripe offered by American tin hat cult in regard to all things Covid. The important data and that which is most relevant to us is the data about cases in the Cayman Islands. We ain’t in Kansas, Toto. This bees the Cayman Islands, Bobo’s. What we can see here is that the vaxes work to prevent serious illness and hospitalisations. The most moronic thing these fools spew is that the vax does not work because the vaxed can get infected. These cretins are apparently ignorantly unaware that no vaccine is 100% effective in preventing the target infection. The idea is to lower the infection rate, save lives and prevent serious illness. According to the experience in the Cayman Islands, the vast majority of Covid related illness and hospitalisation is among the non-vaxed. When asked to give credible reasons to explain why this is so, the anti-vax buffoons can only offer silence, a fool’s blank stare, or more imbecilic babbling.

      • Anonymous says:

        If you can still transmit and spread the virus, the pandemic will only become endemic, which is the natural course of viruses, Cretin.

  5. Joe says:

    Embarrassing. Just end al rules now. Booster means no danger. Why do we have tests and rules still?

  6. Anon says:

    I think everyone agrees on one thing… no one vaccinated should have to isolate to protect the unvaccinated, and if you die unvaccinated that is your own fault

  7. Anonymous says:

    As we know that Omicron is more contagious than Delta wouldn’t it make sense to let everyone get back to their normal activities – and spread the Omicron so as to wipe out the Delta? And I think I’m correct in saying that if you’ve had Omicron you gain a lot of immunity to Delta. It’s hard to believe that little old Cayman is that much different from the rest of the world, that it’s having a resurgence of Delta. Are we that far behind everyone else?

    • Anonymous says:

      Comirnaty does not confer lasting advantage and herd theories are discredited over and over. Omicron already has a successor sub-variant BA.2 with 20 new mutations. We can’t booster our way out. But, right now we can LFT the asymptomatic positives out of the community in about a week, without lockdowns, if people weren’t so SCARED to learn their truth and responsibly confine themselves. We aren’t behind anyone – we are the #1 hotspot for coronavirus in the world by a factor of almost 8:1 to nearest loser ranked, Israel. 8,333 per 100,000! It’s appalling.

      • Anonymous says:

        It is easy to get sidetracked by the net infection rate. The important stat is the percentage of population hospitalised and the percentage of those who recover. Cayman’s Covid-related death rate per unit population is 1/3 that of the USA. We have an excellent track record. Get vaxed and do your best.

  8. Anonymous says:

    😆 silly 😜

  9. Anonymous says:

    If 40% of active positive community spreaders are asymptomatic and don’t realise their cells have been hijacked, then we should be LFTing everyone in our small community at least twice a week. Why isn’t that the core message from the CMO/Public Health? We are now the number one community transmission hot spot on the planet. 12 times worse than our closest looser peer.

    • Anonymous says:

      You can pay for mine.

    • Anonymous says:

      No our premier Peter Griffin would rather encourage employers to punish the unvaxxed with weekly testing. Everyone should be testing or no one at all. What sense does it make to only test unvaxxed if the vaxxed are coming down with symptoms and passing it along to everyone else?

  10. Anonymous says:

    6,000 people are known to have recently tested positive.

    OK, so why not make the not-too-challenging leap and realize that of those 6,000 known positives, effectively none are in hospital or dead.

    Thats not an emergency pandemic, that’s a good thing. And should wake people up to the fact that this needs to end, now.

    Stop testing. Stop the restrictions. If you’re vulnerable be careful. if you’re sick, stay home. Gov need to copy UK restrictions.

    And everyone else needs to calm down and move on.

    • Anonymous says:

      What would the mortality rate need to be for you to consider it a pandemic?

      • Anonymous says:

        It’s surely by now “endemic” rather than “pandemic” and the point is that 99.99% of people are eligible to receive the FREE vaccine and should. If you chose not to get vaccinated, fine, but don’t expect the rest of us to suffer ad nauseum because you’re an idiot.

        We all accept some level of mortality risk in everything we do, in order to live a fulfilling life. If you want government mandated zero mortality risk, cars, alcohol, cigarettes and cycling must be banned.

        Whether you are vaccinated or unvaccinated, you have decided on how best to manage your own risk. The government has done everything it could and should to get us to this point.

        Time to move on and stop wasting public resources on completely pointless bureaucracy. Best case scenario it might save one or two lives, but at a cost of millions. If saving lives is the goal there are better ways to spend that money. (Speed cameras for a start).

        • Anonymous says:

          Well, this version is happily milder, but it is mutating, and future vaccinated-population adaptations aren’t necessarily going to be benign, especially when there is no achievable herd immunity due to pace, and waning Cominaty advantage. You have to resolve this another way, and that’s going to be with community-wide LFTs. We can’t sustain a level 4 avoid travel ranking indefinitely. That’s not “moving on” to normal, it’s surrendering to stupidity.

      • Anonymous says:

        Oh I don’t know. Higher than road traffic accidents, gun shot or stabbing honicides or deaths from type 2 diabetes?

    • Anonymous says:

      Well said. Covid is not big news or front page news outside cayman. Time to end all restrictions and move on. If you are boosted Covid is no threat,

    • Anonymous says:

      #FreeDumb

    • Anonymous says:

      Those 6000 must be unvaxxed ?

      Hahahahhahahhahahhahahahaha

  11. Anonymous says:

    Covid can only enter through your nostril & your mouth & transmitted by your hands therefore protect your mouth and your nostril & keep your hands clean if you can’t change your mask often use alcohol on your mask & gloves on your hands & listerene to gargle your trough some men travel whit White rum to gargle their trough & alcohol to wash their hands regularly trough out the day

  12. Anonymlus says:

    Do the tourism industry see the gains?

  13. Anonymous says:

    “The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

    ― Ronald Reagan

    Quadruple that if it’s PACT of clowns

  14. Anonymous says:

    All of the useless and unnatural quarantine will prolong Delta.

    Please stop helping us.

    • Anonymous says:

      Right. We are doing a fine job of spreading the virus on our own. Who cares if a few became truly sick or die?

      While we’re at it, let’s remove speed limits, stop signs, and traffic signals. Remove the seat belt law.

      • Anonymous says:

        Did you just arrive here?

        No one gives. Flying F about speed limits, stop signs and traffic signals. Yet everyone doesn’t die.

        It’s usually the pissed ones that get in trouble.

  15. Anonymous says:

    Cayman struggling …in other words.

  16. Anonymous says:

    CNS – how do we volunteer? And what are the requirements? Must one be Caymanian?

    • Anan says:

      If you are not caymanian don’t bother offering. I have a medical background and am more than willing to help. Nobody ever gets back to you. I think they know it’s a shit show and don’t want outsiders seeing the full extent of it !

  17. Anonymous says:

    This is absolute false imprisonment at this point. They need to STOP with the exit tests immediately. Like every other country with some common sense, residents (and tourists or whoever) should be able to release themselves from isolation upon obtaining a negative LFT. Seriously. This is madness. Government overreach and has spiraled out of control.

    I know of multiple people who did the right thing and reported and have been locked up for 3+ weeks due to their PCR still being allegedly positive. It is common knowledge, except to PACT and Public Health for some reason, that individuals will continue to test positive on a PCR for weeks after they’re no longer contagious in some cases. The human rights violations are horrific.

    COVID is here to stay. Everyone will get it. Just like any illness, stay home if you’re sick. Everything else is total overreaction.

  18. Anonymous says:

    And yet during these trying times the Ministry of District Administration is spending $235,000 on Cayman Brac toilet blocks – couldn’t we use that money on Covid related stuff instead???

  19. Anonymous says:

    I contacted HSA twice when they originally called for volunteers and staff to man the phones and help out with the covid efforts. But twice I was told these jobs were for Caymanians only. So I’ve sat at home twiddling my thumbs without a job for 2 months when I would have happily volunteered to help out. But after being told I’m not good enough twice, I’m not going to offer a third time.

    • Anonymous says:

      World class! Can’t wait for HSA or Public Health to give themselves an award for outstanding service during the pandemic.

    • Anonymous says:

      The same thing happened to me ! I would have gladly volunteered but as I am not caymanian nobody ever called me back. I think they are scared we will get points and may one day get PR 🙂

    • Anonymous says:

      How bout calling in some of the people on the $1500/month tourism stipend to help? Oh wait, most of them already have new jobs so wouldn’t be available.

      • Anonymous says:

        On a 1,000 a month, less than those on stipend, and more than capable of answering a phone and inputting data, apparently they are not able to pick up a phone.

    • Incredulous says:

      If this is true, this is beyond satire. “Desperate for volunteers”, “okay I will volunteer”, “no, not you”.

      Absolutely no problem with protecting jobs for Caymanians, but voluntary roles, when they are publicising that they are desperately short of staff/people and cannot keep up….really?!

  20. Anonymous says:

    People that get paid 6$ an hour can not afford lft’s and can not afford to be in isolation.
    Rent needs to be paid.
    Why is nobody talking about that ?

    • Anonymous says:

      Because then they’d have to stay home and isolate without pay or tips. I’d love to know who is enforcing the regulations regarding hospitality workers taking LFT.

    • Anonymous says:

      Yeah, guess PACT government didn’t think about this when conning up with their “super plan”.

    • Anonymous says:

      Freedom has a price, and its remarkably affordable. Meaningful “free” LFT testing = 3 tests in one week X entire population X wholesale test cost £2.00 = £480,000. It’s almost laughable that less than half a million stands in the way of resetting our Level 4 travel restrictions, and normalising life. We’re loosing millions a day talking about who’s vaccinated and who’s had it twice. Why CITA, CIREBA, Chamber, Cayman Finance, DoT, CIG, DART can’t organise and sponsor the free solution, is nuts. We keep waiting for PACT to figure out they are holding the tool in their own hand. Counting number of people that had it twice while our community transmission rate leads the planet by a factor of 12 to 1 to our nearest dubious peer, Israel at 655/100k….ours=8,333 per 100,000!

  21. Anonymous says:

    I would love to help but they said I can’t because I’m not vaccinated. Why do I need to be vaccinated when I had Covid and now have the immunity. At least until another variant comes around.

  22. Anonymous says:

    Free Suggestions for PACT.

    – end Covid-19 PCR testing
    – end government enforced isolation
    – end government requirement to report positive LFT’s
    – advise people to take own precautions to protect themselves as they see fit, which includes self imposed isolation.

    End this madness now, else be remembered in history as a PACT of idiots!

    • ann says:

      or If they can’t bear to lose control why don’t they outsource outsource outsource to other hospitals and clinics

    • Anonymous says:

      France reports 501,635 new coronavirus cases, becoming the second country in the world to reach half a million cases in 1 day.

      Thanks to the Wakanda force field, we are immune from the rapidly acceleration of the virus!

    • Anonymous says:

      I bet the whole civil service will test positive once no PCR’s are needed anymore to confirm. 🤣

  23. Anonymous says:

    For whom are we testing?

  24. Anonymous says:

    Look on the bright side. At least traffic is better.

    Glass alway half full. 😂

  25. Guido Marsupio says:

    At some point one may say, why bother? If individuals choose not to be vaccinated, that’s their choice. We will all get it, sooner or later, and Mother ature and/or God, depending on where your personal sentiments lie, will decide if you and your loved ones will live or die. There is now a serious impact on the lives of people, and the health of the economy. As somone said, you made your bed, now lie in it. Let the good times roll!

    • Anonymous says:

      Right. Just like rising sea levels, droughts, melting ice caps, etc, etc. It’s all going to happen anyway, so we should just let things run their course because the economy is more important than humanity.

      • Anonymous says:

        Hey, now, as long we get to brunch and party, it’s all good. Stick our heads in the sand and let the apocalypse run it’s course. Live, laugh and love as the world burns.

    • Anonymous says:

      Don’t look up!

  26. Anonymous says:

    A lot more than 6,000 are currently infected. Most people that self test positive aren’t reporting (why would you?). Plus the people not testing at all.

  27. C'Mon Now! says:

    I struggle to belive that almost 10% of the population are actually staying in isolation…

    Still a lot of cars on de road and people at Foster’s

    • Anonymous says:

      Sick people aren’t staying isolated. They are literally everywhere carrying the virus and spreading it.

  28. Anonymous says:

    How is this country even operating with 6000 people in isolation! 😀

    • Anonymous says:

      Easy, they aren’t really isolating.

    • Anonymous says:

      5999 civil servants get paid no matter what.

    • Anonymous says:

      For office workers, being in isolation means you work from home. Less time on the road. Fewer distractions. Possibly more productive?

      • Anonymous says:

        More productive, less traffic congestion, less emissions, less accidents, lower risk of transmitting viruses, lower utility usage.

        With the plan to make downtown more pedestrian friendly, it will increase traffic pressure on other roads, as well.

        The pandemic has shown us all that full office staffing isn’t really necessary for the majority of day to day work.

        • Anonymous says:

          The day I am called back to the office is the day I hand in my resignation. Removing the daily commute and office formality has boosted my productivity twofold if not more with being able to focus and collaborate online with my colleagues. Don’t miss the office gossip either. There are now lots of opportunities for remote working.

    • Anonymous says:

      Lots of people “work” for CIG.

  29. Anonymous says:

    We should have pity on public health… well no one asked them to insist on confirmation and Exit PCR tests! Totally unnecessary. LFT home release is enough

  30. Anonymous says:

    Lol. They created this shit show all themselves. If a negative LFT is good enough to travel a negative LFT is good enough to leave isolation. Drop the PCR testing for vaccinated individuals and start trusting the vaccinated ones.

  31. Anonymous says:

    #peacefulnoncompliance

  32. Anonymous says:

    Madness. Might as well move to NZ or Australia. Wearing face-masks outdoors is nuts.

  33. Anonymous says:

    5500 of them not in the least bit contagious.

  34. Anonymous says:

    The article should read 6000 should be in isolation because we all know 6000 people are not staying locked up for any long periods of time for quarantine..

  35. Anonymous says:

    They still won’t tell us the vaccinated status of people in hospital with or because of covid.

  36. Anonymous says:

    Whose idea was it to let Omicron rip through the community again?

    • Anonymous says:

      CITA, with a lot of support from the HSA and Public Health. Not ready. Not safe.

      Dr. Hazel, how many of the 100 members of your staff out due to COVID (and receiving full salaries on the backs of the public) have the luxury of choosing to be unvaccinated?

      #shitshow

    • Anonymous says:

      The Omicron Sub-Variant has been discovered in the U.S., so we will soon have that strain ripping through the community. There’s also a new vaccination/
      jab to specifically treat the Omicron “Cinderella Virus” Variant. And, the Delta Variant is still wreaking havoc in the community 🙄.
      Let’s all have a moment of silence to process this.

    • Anonymous says:

      Nature’s. Ever heard of the seasonal flu? It doesn’t care about your masks, social distancing or PCR’s

    • Anonymous says:

      Omicron’s.

  37. Anonymous says:

    This is the result of a abdication of responsibility on the part of the government.

    The government needs to come clean and make it clear to everyone that they have essentially made the decision to allow the virus to wash over the land and infect as many people as possible so that the economic interests of the government’s controlling entities can be satisfied.

  38. Anon says:

    Exit testing is a massive waste of resources at this point. We need to align with the CDC and Public Health England unless we know something they don’t. Negative LFT on day 7.. end of isolation.

    CDC and Public Health England are explicit in the guidance, do not test twice in 90 days unless exhibiting new symptoms. Why will no one from the press or the opposition start hammering this home and asking why we are ignoring this.

    As well as being a huge drain on resource PCR to exit is a huge barrier to tourism. PCR can remain positive for 90 days, getting locked in a hotel room for weeks or months is too risky for most travellers.

    • Anonymous says:

      @3:27 what you ask and state is common sense, which unfortunately is clearly lacking by our Politicians. They will however, blame the pandemic for a collapse of our economy and destruction Cayman’s financial health. This is not too far away if this testing and isolation madness continues!!

  39. Anonymous says:

    6000!!! And yet a handful of people in the hospital. At this point, with the high vax and natural immunity levels, its a cold or the flu for 99.99% of us.

    Put another way – no more testing = no more government overreach and we can all get on with our lives.

  40. Beaumont Zodecloun says:

    I fear it is too late. We could have mitigated infection, but no longer. CITA et al have won, but won what?

    We had active trade between the islands, no masks, a return to normalcy. Some of us who were tourism-dependent had moved to other sources of income. From what I understand, even on the Sister Islands, people were making it, restaurants and hotels full — at least on weekends.

    Well this is what we get. Now we, the people have to figure out how to make this crap work. And for what. For people who most likely have much less skin in the game than me, but much, much more influence.

    Gee, what would it be like to feel represented by our elected officials. I wonder, wonder, wonder.

    • Anonymous says:

      The business community adopted the Koch Brothers/Hillsdale/Fox News agenda and sold it successfully

    • Anonymous says:

      Hard to disagree with your sentiment but what is the alternative? I think we all accept we can’t stay locked down forever or is that what you are suggesting?

      I normally agree with all of your posts but this one leaves me wondering a little!

      • Anonymous says:

        Well, for one, upgrades to ventilation systems has still not been done. That would have went a long way to helping a return to normal.

  41. Anonymous says:

    Literally NO reason for exist testing … you can throw a positive PCR for weeks but you are not contagious. Stop the exit testing and more people will behave.

  42. Anonymous says:

    stop the testing… it achieves nothing.
    if seriously ill go to your doctor…

  43. Anonymous says:

    yep…plenty of people enjoying a nice 2 week, fully paid holiday at home all because of soem mild cold symptoms for a couple of days…..
    this system is stupid beyond belief.

  44. Anonymous says:

    And this wasn’t expected? Worldwide, this pandemic has shown the absolute genius of the scientific community and the absolute ineptitude of politicians and the PH systems. The Government and Public Health in Cayman has had months and months to prepare for this predicable surge.

  45. Anonymous says:

    this should be the last public advice on covid/omicron:

    if you test positive at home ..isolate at home until asymptomatic.

  46. Say it like it is. says:

    First off, we all have a right to know- how many of the “more than one hundred HSA staff” who tested positive were not vaccinated?. Could this be a factor in the rapid spread of the variants?.

    • Anonymous says:

      Probably less than 10%. Let’s face it. The vaccinated are spreading this virus. All the unvaccinated I know maybe only 1/3rd of them have had the virus. But a lot of vaccinated have it or had it.

  47. Anonymous says:

    Sorry but I am beginning to find this so farcical it is becoming almost funny, if it wasn’t so tragic. It is not government’s job to control every little thing here and it is impossible for them to do so. There is not enough money in our limited budget, not enough people (even though they are very dedicated) and not enough other material resources like tests or testing equipment.
    At some point Public Health needs to admit that it is unable to manage the volume and the regulations need to change as they have in the USA, Canada, UK and Europe. Public Health should not be doing incoming and outgoing PCR tests, they need to prioritise on high risk areas and high risk people and running enough tests to allow for statistical confidence in the numbers.
    The government should simply allow people to self test with an LFT. When they are negative they need to get this confirmed through a certified test facility and then allow people to move on with their lives. If people want a free test they can ask for an HSA delivered PCR test which may take 24, 36 or 48 hours.
    It’s time that our civil service realised that they cannot control everything and need to accept that there are other ways to deal with this. If we have 6,000 people in isolation there is very widespread community transmission and we need a new game plan about how to effectively manage this.

  48. Anonymous says:

    Wil be a cold day in hell before I report a positive test and get caught up in their incompetence and overreach.

  49. Anonymous says:

    #freeourpeople

  50. Anonymous says:

    Happy to volunteer to notify people… Who do I notify?

    • Anonymous says:

      They will let you know in 72 hours. Maybe more.

    • Anonymous says:

      I would volunteer too, but as usual, information is sadly lacking.

      • Anonymous says:

        I visited the HSA website & volunteers need personal & professional reference, plus police clearance etc etc.
        To man a phone!!?!
        I think not

      • Anonymous says:

        Thousands of tourism workers on stipends, hundreds of civil servants isolating at home, tens of expatriates trying for months to volunteer for free, and they do not have enough people to manage even basic administrative functions?

        Franz, please explain. Government is wasting millions AND destroying the economy at the same time. Insanity.

    • Anonymous says:

      Are you Caymanian

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