Minister en route to Grand Cayman hospital

| 20/01/2022 | 91 Comments
Cayman News Service
Education Minister Juliana O’Connor-Connolly

(CNS) UPDATED 3:15pm: Education Minister Julianna O’Connor-Connolly is being transferred to the Cayman Islands Hospital via helicopter from Cayman Brac “for observation and treatment for COVID-19”, the premier’s office has confirmed. It was revealed Monday that the minister was positive for COVID-19, and while she is vaccinated, she has spoken publicly of having underlying health problems.

O’Connor-Connolly had been in isolation at her home on Cayman Brac since testing positive over the past weekend but was admitted to Faith Hospital on Cayman Brac today, the premier’s office stated.

“A helicopter from the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service Air Operations Unit is scheduled to pick her up on Cayman Brac this afternoon and bring her to Grand Cayman,” the release said. The minister herself said on a WhatsApp group message that she was being transported at 2pm today (Thursday).

Premier Wayne Panton said he had spoken to the minister and that she is in good spirits. “This is precautionary as she requires testing that can only be done here on Grand Cayman,” he said. “She remains in my prayers and I and the rest of her colleagues wish her a speedy and full recovery.”

Panton again took the opportunity to urge everyone who is able to get vaccinated to do so and for those eligible to get boosters.

“In order to keep the community safe, protect the healthcare system, slow the rate of transmission and ensure schools can remain open and the continued growth of the economy, everyone is urged to test regularly to know their status, report positives and isolate when necessary. Everyone is encouraged to practice safety protocols including wearing masks, practicing safe hygiene and following proper COVID regulations and protocols,” his office said.


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Category: Health, Medical Health, Politics

Comments (91)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    I’m glad she finally decided to get vaxxed! Between her weight and her reported underlying conditions, she was a prime candidate for a terrible outcome if left unvaxxed. Wishing her a speedy recovery!

  2. Anonymous says:

    Any update on Julianna?. I am really praying she is ok.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Why does the Christian god make deadly viruses just so Christians can pray to him for their eradication? Seems like an efficient plan.

    #Ezekiel 23:20

  4. Anonymous says:

    Julie, I am–for a rare and graceful moment–going to put politics aside and listen to that still small voice: Thank God you were wise enough to use your God-given wisdom, shut out the tin hatter’s clammouring and eventually chose to be vaxed. We pray that you fully recover. No matter the outcome, your example may well have saved lives and averted misery for some or many. For that you will be rewarded when the time comes. Hopefully that time is far in the future for you. Many of us want to go to Heaven, but quite few of us want to die right now to get there. Live long and prosper.

  5. Anon1 says:

    Wishing you a full recovery JOC. God bless.

  6. Joe the plumber says:

    Why is everyone “Anonymous” ?
    You can tell who is who….
    Positive comments from people who care about locals….
    Negative from migratrants who don’t…
    And I am a migratrant “with papers” for the records

    • Anonymous says:

      Can’t spell either

      • Anonymous says:

        low shot, foreigner! Shame! We see you. Joe the plumber call his own kind out!

        • Anonymous says:

          Yeah – except he isn’t a “migratrant” is he? When have you ever heard an expat, PR or new Caymanian refer to themselves as being “with papers”. Just an angry Person bigoted against foreigners trying to make their hostility seem more reasonable by claiming to be a member of the same group he is criticizing. The “Some of my best friends are black..” tactic.

    • Anonymous says:

      Yes, I’m a disappointed ex-pat.

      Paying for fools who voted other fools into power, while I’m paying for fools.

    • Anonymous says:

      Migratant – new movie or song?

    • Anonymous says:

      Joe the plumber could be anyone for gods sake. Grow up.

  7. Anonymous says:

    It is disgusting that venomous thoughts such as some I have read in this thread could be expressed towards this woman at a time like this. For once, put aside politics and the nasty attitudes and send prayers and good wishes for the Minister’s recovery. She is a human being just like you are and you don’t know what illness could befall you.

    • Cheese Face says:

      Sending prayers doesn’t help anyone, ever.

      I do however hope she fully recovers, then considers retirement.

      • Anonymous says:

        So Cheese Face, sending prayers doesn’t help, but sending “hope” does? Really. Do you realize how confused that makes you sound? You should have simply said that you don’t believe in prayer and left it at that. FYI prayer is hope to some individuals.

  8. Anonymous says:

    Same person that did a public monologue a few months ago how vaccines are going to save us…

  9. Anonymous says:

    The RCIPS Air Operations Unit are the covid transfer team. They get little credit for this but have quietly moved quite a few people regardless of position, they actually did two today. Usually with some great HSA medics, we need to appreciate what we have. No favouritism – just life saving where needed.

  10. Mumbichi says:

    I don’t care what she has or hasn’t done. I hope and pray for the speedy recover of Julie.

    • Mumbichi says:

      *recovery*

    • Anonymous says:

      I hope she repays for her helicopter service, which all her electorate can not avail of it without a burden of cost. Nice to be elected, stupid and financially protected.

      CNS: Not true. The police helicopter has been used on a number of occasions to transport patients from the Sister Islands to GC and I believe it was equipped for this service and it is part of its mandate. Any CINICO patient will be covered for air ambulance between islands and I imagine any private insurance that covers medivac would also pay for this. Getting patients from the Brac and even more so from Little Cayman was always a major problem until the police chopper was put to this use. As to cost, if it was practical, I’m sure the minister would have forgone the embarrassment and travelled on a regular flight. When a patient needs a medical evacuation, that means they need the same assistance as transportation in an ambulance. This is not practical on a commercial flight on a little plane. Therefore, the alternative is a charter flight, which I doubt would be any cheaper. How about we put political differences aside and wish her well?

  11. Anonymous says:

    Fully jabbed with boosters to boot. Wake up people.

    Get well soon Minister.

    • Anonymous says:

      Obese and with underlying health problems. Vaccination may be the difference between the hospital and the morgue. Trying to use her vax status as a criticism of vaccination without considering the alternative is a bit like mocking someone who’s house burns down for having fire insurance.

      • Anonymous says:

        Well put. However, logic and rational thought cruise well above the flight level of most of the tin hat anti-vax clade.

  12. Anonymous says:

    I hope she never returns to the ministry.
    Get rid of religion in education.

    • Anonymous says:

      You might as well say get rid of history too. They are inextricably connected. There is also a difference between religion and being religious. No matter what your views are, religion is a huge part of this world with billions of followers, so yes, it is worthy of teaching.

      • Anonymous says:

        Yes, but not creationism in science class, as a credible alternative to evolution by natural selection, right?

        • Anonymous says:

          Taking the argument to the realm of Where it all Began: Neither belief in Intelligent Design nor belief in the most popular scientific theories of the origins of things take any lesser degrees of faith. Both are faith-based and expound quite elabourately on that which cannot be proven.

          • Roundabouts aren't rocket science says:

            Science isn’t faith based, it’s evidence based.

            • Anonymous says:

              Ok, 1:52 Faith Game, ON!
              Sorry but that is just not true in all cases involving science and certainly not true involving many questions in regard to Where it All Began. You are mindlessly parroting what you were taught by science cultists. However I shall pardon your benightedness in regard to the issue of epistemology if you can prove skillful in your answer to a simple two-part science question, without resorting to faith in any form (using an accepted definition of “faith” which is “confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept”). Please tell us what the state of things was a picosecond prior to the birth of the universe and its state at 10 to the -44 power seconds after, keeping in mind the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle as it would apply to the second part of the question. [HINT: Without faith you cannot.] Thank you for playing!

              • Anonymous says:

                You are so confused. You really think that science’s inability to explain everything in the universe somehow proves the existence of your god? Seriously? You don’t see how ridiculous that is?

                It’s like saying the Bible doesn’t explain how to do calculus therefore Islam is the true religion. See how dumb that it’s?

                Think. Evolution gave you a brain. Use it!

                • Anonymous says:

                  @10:07:
                  Your benightedness and folly is amply on display in your comment. I never tried to prove of disprove the existence of any deity. What seemed to blow right through the empty spaces of your reasoning apparatus is that I not only did NOT attempt to prove the existence of a deity, I clearly indicated that it is not possible for either those who place their faith in science or those who place their faith in intelligent design to prove their belief system as is relates to the fundamentally important realm of cosmological origins. As to your incredible folly of thinking that I expect science to “explain everything”: that was an astoundingly silly assumption on your part. You utterly failed to either grasp the substance of my moot nor did you pose an efficacious refutation. In other words: you failed miserably to accomplish anything other than displaying your lack of critical reasoning skills. To borrow a phrase from your doltish comment: See how dumb that is?

            • Anonymous says:

              Ok genius, so explain to the rest of us how exactly science explains the creation of our universe… Ah, ok, forgot, the Big Bang Theory…a hot and dense single point that expanded rapidly, blah, blah, blah… But where exactly did that single point come from? Who created that point, where did it come from? Awaiting your scientific explanation that will tell the rest of us how something arose out of nothing…

              CNS: Lawrence Krauss: A Universe from Nothing.

      • Anonymous says:

        Are you deeply confused or just dishonest? Of course teaching about religions is necessary. But indoctrinating, presenting favorable distortions of the history, and denying science/reality are very different. And that’s the problem with religion in our schools.

        #lame

        • Anonymous says:

          Ok 9:39:
          A couple of questions for you:
          1. What was the status of things a femtosecond before the universe as we know it came to be?
          2. According to your grasp of science/reality, how did the universe come to be?

          • Anonymous says:

            Textbook example of “God of the gaps” fallacy. You wrongly believe that current mysteries somehow equate to proof of your god (notice it’s always your god, ignoring all the others).

            People just like you used to say “nobody knows what the Sun is, therefore it’s god.”

            Come on, think. You can do better.

            #blessed #Ezekiel 23:20

    • Anonymous says:

      You’re gonna burn in hell! We rebuke you Satan! We do not war with flesh and blood, but with evil spirits! This is not American.

  13. Anonymous says:

    The stupidity of the people here continues to amaze me.
    Prayers ? If there was a god, we wouldnt have this virus.
    Ignorance beyond any limit.

    • Anonymous says:

      Psalm 14:1 is proven correct.

    • Anonymous says:

      Shows you how much you know! God likes to send an occasional plague sprinkled with a dash of pestilence. Ask the Egyptians.

    • Anonymous says:

      The dislikes, and the willfully ignorant replies are all you need to know to validate your premise – – – Folks are simply Stupid, and will die stupid!

    • Educated says:

      Religion….LOL

    • Anonymous says:

      4:59 pm What continues to amaze me is the presence of characters such as yourself who choose to remain here to put up with us and our “stupidity.” Tell you what, this stupid one here will be praying that Almighty God will choose to make His powerful presence known to you and help you to discover your own ignorance. I send you love.

    • Anonymous says:

      Yes, Prayers! You better pray there isn’t a God (capital G) because if so you will be condemned for leading people astray! BTW, everyone knows within themselves there is a God, you’ve just convinced yourself otherwise along the way. Pray and ask him to show himself to you… challenge him! He likes a good challenge.

      BTW what is your alternative, meditation or relying on unpredictable people?! I’m laughing right now btw. It’s okay to have a good laugh! But on a serious note, friends, parents, doctors and the government have all let us down. Yes, the people and things we can see and touch!

      Nothing is in vain with GOD! Believe it or not, he still loves you even though you make such foolish comments. Yes, the God who created you still loves you even if you refuse to acknowledge him. He’s probably using me to talk to you right now :), but If I know, then he also knows that you will need more convincing.

      I will pray for you to have an encounter!

    • Anonymous says:

      Please give us an enlightened explication of your moot “If there was a god, we wouldn’t have this virus.”
      I doubt that you can but I stand to be pleasantly surprised that you may not be spewing from benightedness.

  14. Anonymous says:

    Hopefully, others who are “in good spirits” with Covid-19 from the Sister Islands get the exact same treatment…

  15. anon says:

    So long as everyone in the Brac who has Covid is afforded helicopter transfer if they need additional testing in Grand Cayman.

  16. Anonymous says:

    Thoughts and prayers.

    • Anonymous says:

      what does that accomplish? Make it make sense.

      • Ourmen says:

        5.54pm I agree, “prayers and more prayers” makes much more sense.

        • Anonymous says:

          Please educate the atheists and agnostics. What does prayer accomplish? No need to be rude, it’s a valid question to anyone who is comfortable with critical thinking.

          • Anonymous says:

            What does atheism accomplish?

            • Anonymous says:

              Intelligence.

            • Anonymous says:

              This response is a perfect example why a lot of people don’t take christians and their reasoning skills seriously. No answers, just deflection and cognitive laziness. Sad and scary.

              • Anonymous says:

                Cognitive laziness exists on both sides of the Believer/Atheist divide. Neither side can prove or disprove the existence of a Deity; however, rather than being able to grasp that trying to prove their respective belief is correct they take the lazy path and indulge in the fool’s folly of denigration rather than respectfully allowing that others may not subscribe to their respective faith. Nor can either side prove how space-time or the universe came to be. Both rely on no small degree of faith to arrive at their belief system. What prayer accomplishes in the soul of the believer as he connects with the Object of his faith is quite akin to what is accomplished in the atheist’s mind as he contemplates his philosophy and how it bears on his life: they both are centered and feel comforted and balanced by their faith.

    • Anonymous says:

      Jajajajaja

    • Anonymous says:

      I prefer “best wishes for a speedy recovery”.

  17. Anonymous says:

    So now our family of four must spend an extra $100 to get back home?

  18. Anonymous says:

    This can’t be good.
    The professional healthcare (treatment) & facilities are in Grand Cayman, so it was the
    right choice.
    Wishing her a full and speedy recovery.

  19. Anonymous says:

    Wishing Education Minister Julianna O’Connor-Connolly a quick recovery. The vaccine provides less protection for those individuals with underlying health problems so the decision to relax the COVID suppression measures will be more impactful than many people realize. We unfortunately have many people within our community with underlying health problems.

    • Anonymous says:

      What a load of tripe from the anti-vaxxers.

      The deaths of many of the unvaccinated lie at their feet. Your lies are loaded hogwash.

      • Anonymous says:

        ?

      • Anonymous says:

        No, it’s just one who doesn’t care for government employees.

      • Anonymous says:

        Where’s the data?

        Can’t the government count to 15 and tell us the vaccinated / unvaccinated ratio?

        The majority are in hospital are vaccinated, same as every other countries. They lied and you were fooled

        • Anonymous says:

          If 80% of the population are vaccinated, if you were right 4 times as many people in hospital would have to be vaccinated before there was any indication that being vaccinated made you more vulnerable as you want to believe. A simple majority would still be evidence that vaccination was safer. But maths probably isn’t your strong point.

          • Anonymous says:

            81% of entire population fully vaccinated. 2 out of the 15 dead – or 13% – fully vaccinated. or put it another way, if you are vaccinated, death is a 1 in 30,000 rate, if unvaccinated, 1 in a thousand.

            • Anonymous says:

              As much as some dislike facts, it doesn’t make them any less true.

            • Anonymous says:

              OUCHHH! 11:05 am
              Facts…
              Damn!
              Shhhhh!
              [Eeeeekkkk! Auggghhh! Aacckkkk! Cough….wheeze…
              …thump, thump, thump.]
              Hear that sound?
              Facts are like deadly toxins to the moronic anti-vax tin hatter’s.

    • Anonymous says:

      Cayman and the world needs to get the cogs moving again. We can’t be held hostage just because we are trying to prevent all of the old and unwell from dying. We need to return normal asap.

  20. Anonymous says:

    I’m sure she’s thanking Wayne now, and not her pastor!

  21. Anonymous says:

    As much as I don’t like her, I hope she makes it through this okay.

  22. wow says:

    Anyone notice the happy reactions to the article?! oh my god

    • Anonymous says:

      Well, from circa 2017 we became more and more divided. We no longer feel a sense of community and look for division on every front from thoughts on climate change, presidents, race, nationality, political beliefs, taste in food.

      Its only natural that after so many years of that going on, the human nature aspect of seeing those who are seperate from you as enemies emerges and we wish for the downfall of the other so it makes us feel good about oursleves.

      I personally think JuJu is waste of time in politics, but I do hope she gets good care and makes it through this. I don’t need for people to fall ill and die to make my feel good about myself or choices.

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