COVID cases mount but PH fails to report numbers
(CNS): Once again government failed to report the number of active cases of SARS-CoV-2 in the Cayman Islands on Wednesday, when officials revealed that another 211 people had tested positive over the last day, 22 of them in the Sister Islands. The active number of cases is estimated to be well over 4,000 and over 500 of them are believed to be the Omicron variant, which means that as many as 5,000 people could be in isolation.
It is not clear why government has stopped reporting these important numbers but repeated requests for the information have gone unanswered.
Interim Chief Medical Officer Dr Autilia Newton confirmed that 19 of the latest new cases were in travellers and 192 from the community. They were identified from 538 PCR tests and lateral flow tests.
While 89 cases of Omicron have been confirmed to date, the probable number is now 527. Four COVID-19 patients are currently in hospital but officials have not said whether any of these patients have the Omicron variant.
Meanwhile, 58,904 people (83% of the estimated population of 71,106) have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, 57,331 (80%) have had two shots and 17,520 people (24%) have had a third vaccine, as the booster programme stalls in the face of the more contagious Omicron variant.
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An Isolation Support Line is available to help by delivering groceries or other essential supplies for people required to isolate suddenly, and who do not have other resources and support.
For Isolation Support call 946-3530 or 1-800-534-3530 or email isolationsupport@gov.ky
Operational hours 9am-4pm, Monday to Friday, and 9am-1pm on Saturday.
For mental health support, the Mental Health Helpline can be reached on
1-800-534-6463(MIND) from Monday to Friday, 9am-5pmIf you have flu symptoms contact the 24-hour Flu Hotline at 1-800-534-8600 or 947-3077
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Category: Health, Medical Health
How early is it recommended that you can get your Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot, after being fully vaccinated?
Locally, I’m hearing 30 days, as opposed to the CDC 6-month requirement. Which is it?
The Booster uptake is your 3rd jab, and is recommended 6 months after your 2nd jab.
If you are told anything else, it’s rubbish.
Very good. It is time to stop reporting test numbers. Government also need to discontinue the requirement for the Certificate to Travel. Provided a traveler has proof of vaccinations and recent negative COVID test the C to T is unnecessary
You’re right, we don’t want the highest rate of infection folks traveling, vaccinated people shouldn’t travel.
you clearly don’t understand math, moron
If the vaccination rate is 80% and 90% of new cases are in double and triple vaxxed people, I’m afraid it’s your math skills in question.
Efficacy is in the red moron.
In a world of different technology standards and Cayman attracting tourists from many different US states and countries I can see the sense in pre-approving vaccination status through the Certificate to Travel. It ensures they are validated before travel and reduces wait time at the airports. And for all those who will say that you can still get Covid when vaccinated it is about minimizing the chance of visitors having serious illness more than infection.
What will become obsolete is the 2, 5 and 10 day tests and mandatory 14 day quarantine with surveillance technology being used. In a world where Omicron has become very widespread, including here in Cayman, these strategies will be useless in managing risk after this wave goes through. We are already seeing the recognition of this with the CDC reducing the length of isolation periods and the UK stopping pre departure testing and PCR testing on day 2.
It will be interesting to see how long it takes public health, the civil service and the government to recognise this and to start to make changes.
I have omicron – its a sore throat and sore muscles. Primary evidence. VERY MILD.
anecdotal evidence
Just like when I had Omicron and died from it.
It was an awful way to go, and I was in my late 20’s and an amateur triathlete, no pre-existing conditions.
I should have got vaccinated, but too late now obviously
If you didn’t get vaccinated then you made your choice. There is such a thing as public responsibility but you can’t continue to keep the rest of hostage, forced into STUPID quarantines, etc. because of your decisions.
Um… might want to hitch your high-horse, and read the sarcasm to which you replied.
Said sarcasm which was, of course, poking fun at anecdotal statements being used as evidence in a discussion, and even having the gall to call it “primary evidence”. SMH.
By the way, even my horse agrees, don’t you Dave?
*snort, whinnnnnnny*
Why does anyone care about an purely arbitrary number of “active cases”? This number is determined by making a number of assumptions as to what is considered “active”. It is meaningless.
Just look at the daily cases for any number of days back you want.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/cayman-islands/
Thank you! We should ignore scientifically gathered data and get back to normal. If we lose a few people along the way, it’s fine.
The point of the initial post is that “active cases” is not a scientific number, but rather an artefact of making a number of arbitrary assumptions.
You seem to care an awful lot about those active cases number yourself or you would be commenting about it.
Why are you so obsessed by those numbers, its kinda weird.
Just calm down, it’ll be OK if your vaccinated
Public health aren’t reporting the numbers because they’re increasingly losing track of them and they’re starting to look like they’re making them up.
The last published active cases statistics were communicated on 30th December when we were told that there were 3,695 people with an “active” case of covid. But there had only been a total of 850 cases recorded by public health in the 15 days leading up to 30th December. Accepted wisdom and “the science” suggests the majority of people are free and clear of covid after 15 days (increasingly much earlier than that based on the global trend of reducing house arrest periods). So where did the extra 3,115 “active” cases come from that weren’t the 850 new positives in the fortnight leading up to the last published date?
Second of all, public health expect us to believe that 51 people received their first jab yesterday. They also expect us to believe that 780 people have received their first jab since 1st of December. That’s 780 people who have been able to get the jab for almost a year but didn’t get it for whatever reason. They’ve not got it when CIG were giving out burgers. They’ve not got it when the private sector were giving out six figure lottery prizes. They’ve not got it during the month of November when four people died “with” covid. All 780 of them waited until December 2021 when there was no incentive to get jabbed and increasing advice that the vaccines were ineffective against Omicron in any case.
Sure, ok.
🧐🤔🥺😱
My favourite was the gap between the reported numbers of active cases and the number in isolation – soon fixed by not reporting the numbers! Problem solved.
So pray tell what knowing the numbers each day will do for you?
Will you shrivel up at home in your shell and no longer go out in the world? NO!
Hospitalisation numbers are key. Death rates are key. Vaccination numbers are key. Knowing how many cases of Covid there are has little merit.
There is already another variant on the loose (IHU). Viruses will mutate and become more contagious and hopefully weaker as well. You can’t lockdown the world for a cold and most major studies point to Omicron being much weaker sparing the lungs so the 14 day quarantine is absurd for this variant.
Delta is still the most prevalent strain, but you want people to forget that fact to justify your “it’s just a cold” agenda
The numbers might not matter to you.
The numbers matter if you’re vulnerable. It allows you to make a rough calculation of how likely you are to encounter someone with the virus if you do some mundane task like stand in line at the supermarket.
In essence it allows you to modify your behaviour accordingly based on the conditions. If there were no cases or 10 cases per day most people would probably behave differently around people than if there were 1000 per day.
But if others like you chose the same rhetoric, wouldn’t you potentially just converge on the same day and thereby increase your chances of contracting the virus?
I understand your position though and I do empathize with the vulnerable. All the best to the vulnerable.
not sure why we need reporting about road accidents and deaths either?
does it change anything you do, apart from avoiding the area of the accident to avoid traffic?
so why not complain about the big report on someone who hasn’t learned to avoid 2 ton concrete obstructions that aren’t even on a road?
The mandatory isolation period for those with the Omicron variant should not be longer than for the previous variants such as Delta. Government must explain why they are continuing with the 14 day quarantine for omicron. Based on available information, I agree that with Omicron being more contagious those testing positive and all primary contacts should isolate until returning a negative PCR test. However, there is no scientific basis for having to wait until day 15 to test if you are fully vaccinated. This is causing unnecessary hardship to many including Caymanian students and visitors alike.
Delta is still the predominant strain, and the 14 day quarantine and PCR program was quite successful in slowing the spread of Covid. Why reinvent the wheel?
Because if you’re triple vaxxed you shouldn’t have to be held back by the science deniers.
And yet, the mutations can still be spread by the triple vaxxed, so in essence, the overconfidence of triple vaxxers is a huge part of the problem.
nope, the high numbers of unvaccinated clogging up hospitals is the problem.
Yes, like 4 people?
Vaxxed or not, the Labour Law gives employees the right to request paid sick days and spend those in their backyard or patio, learning guitar, or binging entire seasons on Netflix. Employers shouldn’t want to risk their wider business staffing by allowing any infected employees at work for any reason at any time, COVID or not. Anyone with a fever shouldn’t be walking around, touching things, and going to the supermarket like they don’t. That’s ALWAYS been common courtesy with any transmissible illness, including back when there were just seasonal Colds and Flus to deal with. With COVID, whatever remained of “the honour system” has gone millennial-hissy-fit. Stay home for a couple weeks, enjoy the hiatus, most of us will be just fine.
Because the quarantine for non-Omicron is not 14 days at this point.
We place people under house arrest for getting the milder version.
This is just leading to under-reporting as no one wants to self-report and get slapped with a bracelet and 2 weeks in QT.
The facts have shown us that our public health officials are either useless or unable to get a sensible plan past our dumbass gov’t. Or maybe a bit of both.
You are correct. Such a punitive and unnecessary long quarantine period will dissuade anyone from self reporting.
They can’t keep up with the testing of people who don’t have symptoms. Stop testing people who aren’t affected. Stop the LFT 3 times for travelers – only do it once between days 3-5 so people don’t get crammed into a small waiting room with others who are possibly positive. Also, if you’re triple vaxxed and no symptoms why on earth would you report that to the government? I’ll use my own discretion to LFT myself until I’m clear, I will not be locked in for days and days after a negative lft.
Everyone has to make tradeoffs. For example, an innocent life has to be sacrificed so that you can live yours in total comfort, without any inconvenience whatsoever.
STOP with the dramatics. Seriously. Anytime someone points out that we should fight back against forced (unnecessary) testing and quarantines, there is always a comment that they must be okay with just walking around killing people. That is not happening. Yes, people will get COVID and yes some people will die. You can’t keep locking up thousands of people because there MIGHT be one death. The unvaccinated have made their choice and those of us who got vaccinated should not continue to be held back to protect those who actively choose to not protect themselves.
Exactly!
We could prevent all driving deaths by turning all streets into pedestrian and bike only.
We could prevent all boating accidents by banning boating.
Yes. I remember once when I caught a severe case of boating accident. Gave it to my whole family, and THEY went out and had boating accidents. It was terrible. I still can’t look at a container of 4-stroke oil without tearing up.
CITA bots and bootlickers charged up and prepared for the results with their arsenal of talking points.
“it’s Mild”
“South Africa”
“Stop The Tests”
“Get Back To Normal”
“Live With It”
“Obese and Elderly”
“New York Times”
don’t forget, “they are going to die anyway” and
“pre-existing conditions”
Too bad being stupid as “pre-existing conditions” couldn’t be included…
Listen, this virus is now going to infect every human being on the planet now over the next few years. It cannot be stopped or controlled because of how transmissible it is. This virus is becoming endemic like the cold and flu meaning it will continue to be in the population forever.
This is not as scary as it sounds. Cases are becoming much milder thanks to vaccination and advances in treatment of this disease. The CDC and the Biden administration is cutting exit testing altogether as it doesn’t make sense anymore. We can’t quarantine and test our way out of this.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-in-shift-prepares-americans-to-see-covid-19-as-part-of-life-11641465004
@10:13
May be already infected, better yet it has been co-existing with humans since forever? Just because the test picks it up doesn’t mean it is “new” and dangerous.
Now say hello to Deltacron. Cyrus just found a new strain.
You idiots had to talk about how good Omicron was. You just had to open your darn big mouths.
“Four COVID-19 patients are currently in hospital but officials have not said whether any of these patients have the Omicron variant.”
Number of persons hospitalized is all that needs reporting! Imposed quarantining should also cease. Madness!
Eliminate all quarantine and these draconian rules! My vacation depends on it!
30% of our GDP depends on travel for tourism, not counting the impact on the financial service industry if they can’t travel to see clients or attract foreign staff, and a significant chunk of government revenue. Which is being replaced with borrowing. So go ahead and trivialize it – but you’ll be singing a different story when the borrowed money runs out and government has to start cutting services and civil service jobs.
And Deltacron just needs idiots
They have not told us the variant as it takes them 10 days to identify for some reason, when other countries can identify it from a PCR test
Thank you Elizabeth Holmes, but a PCR is a completely different diagnostic than genomic sequencing. The latter is much more involved, expensive, req’s more handling, and takes 4-5 days for confirmation. Feel free to imagine something better from a single droplet of blood – market is ripe!
so, as I stated, the long delay and expense of genomonic sequencing is not necessary when the PCR can inform you that you have COVID and it is not Delta or a previous strain.
As the likelihood of a new variant mutating in Cayman’s tiny population is basically insignificant, process of elimination tells you if your positive and its not Delta, you’re going to have Omicron.
Every test doesn’t need genomic sequencing, a little common sense can go a long way.
As stated, the PCR can only determine positive/negative for Covid-19. It can’t positively identify that sample as Delta or Omicron or any other variant.
Genomic sequencing is required, however you’re right about one thing — a little common sense can indeed go a long way.
Nope. A PCR is the first step to determine a person has SARS-COV-2. The variant is determined by genomic sequencing, which, fortunately, we have such equipment here.
The government really needs to stand down and let people take control of their personal protection. We let the Fauci’s of the world take the wheel and they failed. The only way to stop the disease is total isolation and that is not only unsustainable but comes with all sorts of other problems.
I have a feeling they won’t stand down and we will continue to dig a deeper hole.
Calm down on the faux news. Fauci isn’t your enemy. Alden was the one who locked us up and made people lose jobs.
Alden did what was needed at the time. You can not compare what was needed then to what should happen now. We have been protected with vaccines now and the need for lockdown is no longer
It was the Governor and CMO, but agree with former policy. Currently, vaccine status is a short-lived shield from full symptoms, and does little to stop the economic disruption from mass public health and safety quarantines. By pretending “we are over this”, the western world are using our own vaccinated populations to engineer fully-vaccine-resistant strains. There is no herd immunity with coronavirus, it mutates, and mutates again. Already a couple other variants queueing up behind Omicron. History has shown that forging ahead with blinders on and our fingers in our ears isn’t a great survival strategy.
the aim with lockdowns etc., was and is not to stop the virus, but slow the spread, so Hospitals are overflowing all at one time.
It has been that way from the beginning, as stated by Fauci. Try actually listening or reading his actual reports, rather than right wing FB posts on his Advice.
I am tired of hearing Sister Islands, why can’t we know how many in Cayman Brac, how many in Little Cayman? Would that be asking too much?
4 in hosipital…the almost hidden, most important number….
As with everything here, there is always a delay.
RE: Aldens park in Prospect….
This sounds like what used to happen with not issuing hurricane warnings in a timely manner so as not to scare away tourists
Why have three or four pages to report this information?
Why not set this up in a spreadsheet type report where you have all the information there and you just update the numbers each day. My 10 year old could help Public Health create it.
Can Public Health hire one person responsible for getting this information done and out at a certain time each day? It seems like when reporting this information it is a last minute thought every day and always at different times.
The new CMO really needs to get a handle on this..
$1,500,000 CIG wages paid today.
It’s does not matter. Everyone will get covid once or twice. Quit reporting and testing non stop. This will be around for many years
Right. If we lose a few people so we can get back to making profits, it’s just the cost of doing business
We would lose them anyways because they were irresponsible enough to not get vaccinated. Why should we all have to suffer because unvaxxed choose to die in hospitals over getting a harmless vaccine.
And get your heads out of the sand in relation to proper quarantine procedures. CDC can help just listen PACT.
I’m wondering, has anyone had the thought that alot of persons get the flu during this time of year. I haven’t heard of anyone having the common cold, everything sneeze or cough is Covid, Delta or Omicron!!! I’m so over this shxt!!!!
A responsible citizen would test to see if it’s Covid and therefore if it’s not, then it’s the flu or cold.
SMH
No right minded person would test and subsequently report a positive test, resulting in getting caught up in the asinine system.
I did report. I regret it now. Stuck in limbo and now knowing 10 to 12 households that did not report and are already out and about, while I am still in mandatory 14 day prison, I fee very stupid for doing the right thing and following the law. No one in the house has a positive test for 5 days but we have 6 more days of jail time while people who did not report are free.
You do realize that by doing the right thing and isolating you are able to stop more people from becoming infected.
This is the reason that we will never ever get out of this mess. If we would all follow the Public Health guidelines we could at the very least slow down the amount of infections. Can you imagine if Omicron was as deadly as Delta just how many deaths we would have?
And then what? Test positive and go to work, telling colleagues “it’s just a cold.” Or stay home and tell your employer “it’s just a cold” but you have to stay home for a while?
You are assuming employers are reporting to has as well. I know of a large firm on island that has decided not to pass on lft results so their staff does not get 2 weeks.
LFT’s are in shops you know, anyone can by one, LOL, you don’t have to rely on your work place to give you them
Hospitalizations decreased by 33% in the same 24 hr period. The only statistic of relevance.
Yes. Ignore news from other countries. We are insulated from them!
We are highly vaxxed. If you’ve not properly protected yourself then that’s your gamble.
We also have a highly selective strain of the virus that only affects people after midnight and not at all on New Year’s Eve. Or in elevators where I work, where people can enjoy being in close proximity with others even though they are maskless.
Well, according to the CDC you are no longer infectious after 5 days, so just take the total of the last 5 days.
No need to consider persons with trace amounts of Covid as active cases, release from quarantine as soon as they return a negative LFT.
CITA!!!!!!
The CDC is acting on behalf of the economy in the US. The director and Fauci basically said this. China is actually acting on behalf of their people and the data proves it.
China acting on behalf of the people? Right-total control by the government is always a good thing.
Total control, lol. Millions have been lifted out of poverty by the government and their record on Covid losses is remarkable.
LOL. China is hardly a shining example of how to treat citizens properly.
Right. Any country that has largely eliminated poverty, delivers fresh fruits and veggies to isolated people is bad. Communism bad! Fox and right wing lunatics tell me so.
Hmmmm, why then all the Cuban boat riders drifting around the Caribbean Sea? Guess their delivery of papayas was really late.
So stupid to waste resources determining which variant it is. What does it matter????
This is how we know how the virus is mutating and stay ahead of it. Sequencing allows scientists to study new variants of concern and develop vaccines and treatments. Not all PCR tests can be sequenced so it is important that the ones that are, are tracked.
Thankfully, Omicron does have different symptoms than Delta did. Also, it has the S-gene drop out which makes it easier to identify. Since this virus is continuing to mutate rapidly due to how fast it is spreading, a new Omicron variant named C.36.3.1 is now circulating in India that has picked up an extra 4 mutations.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/icmr-scientists-spot-variant-with-s-gene-dropout-feature/articleshow/88699645.cms
Where is the transparency?
Boring. How many in hospital with a legitimate need for treatment of Covid?
Injury and death is like that, in my experience. It’s not exciting. Nothing you’d want to post on your FB, for instance. It’s a slow decline or rally, depending upon the immune system and a myriad of other variables.
As you said, it’s boring. We will try harder in the future to make our misery, injury, illness and death more entertaining for you.
Here we go again. Throwing things under the rug to look good in the eyes of the world.
We need to communicate better. Do not give false infos to the world or hide how bad things are out there.
This is to hide what is happening to blunt any reaction by external sources (CDC) or internal sources (public maybe even PPM) outcry.
Time longer than Rope PACT and you hanging yourself with it.