Virus still spreading fast as new rules rolled out

| 24/01/2022 | 104 Comments

(CNS): Following the implementation of new rules relating to the phased border reopening and protocols designed to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the community, government has now relaxed quarantine times and is allowing children to take the vaccine status of their parents. A new testing regime for travel to the Sister Islands has also been introduced.

Figures released Friday by Public Health revealed that there were another 371 people who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 last Wednesday and another 408 on Thursday. Eighteen of the 779 new cases were in the Sister Islands. Estimates suggest that around 6% of the population across all three islands is confirmed positive at present.

However, there are still anecdotal reports of people who are avoiding the system and continuing to work and move in the community, regardless of their status, suggesting that the level of positive cases is far greater than the official numbers reflect.

While Omicron is undoubtedly far more contagious than any other strain of this coronavirus to date, at last week’s press briefing Interim Chief Medical Officer Dr Autilia Newton described the symptoms as much more like a cold or flu.

Nevertheless, the virus still poses a threat to the elderly and those with serious health conditions. As of Friday morning, officials confirmed there were 17 people in hospital, three of whom were new admissions, while three people had been discharged.


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Category: Health, Medical Health

Comments (104)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Cayman’s 1 in 12 in quarantine figure is disgraceful. We are now #1 on the planet for community spread by a colossal margin. 8,333 cases per 100,000! We don’t deserve the LFTs or the vaccines/boosters if we are going to be this stupid with our privilege.

    • Anonymous says:

      Why is it disgraceful? Why we don’t deserve the LFTs? or the vaccines?

      From one obsession to another. Stop all testing and life is good again. Ignorance IS a BLESSING in this case.

      Did isolation stop the virus spreading? Did vaccine stop the virus spreading? Did face masks stop the virus spreading? Did social distancing stop the virus spreading? Did bars closing at midnight stop the virus spreading?

      “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

  2. Anonymous says:

    No means no!

  3. Anonymous says:

    Anyone else see the recent powerful speech by the President of Croatia to Macron and the EU?
    Just Google it.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Don’t spread your FALSE information. from your own link 2/3 of currently hospitalized are fully vaccinated, but idiots like you can’t do the math on proprotions. about 80% of people in ontario are fully vaccinated. that means 2079 out of 11,200,000 which is 1 out of 3500. 793 out of 2,800,000 unvaccinated is 1 out of 5800.

    Then look at ICU and see that vaccinated are 1 out of 51000 and unvaccinated are 1 out of 13000. Over 3 times greater chance of taking up valuable space in ICU for being an unvaccinated moron. In Quebec they are taxing the unvaccinated for their choice to burden our healthcare. Everywhere should do the same

    • Anonymous says:

      Canada has had one of the worst response track records on file with COVID. Failed to order PPE on time, failed to order PCR test equipment, kits and reagents in time, failed to keep long term care facilities safe, failed to lockdown, failed to get vaccine orders fulfilled and to spin doctor the miss-matched franken-doses, failed to order enough lateral flow tests, still rolling out boosters at a snail’s pace and obsessing on QR passports like it was 9 months ago.

      • Anon says:

        Who cares. If your jabbed you live, only the unvaccinated die. Their fault.

      • Miami Dave says:

        Though on a per capita basis the U.S. has three times the number of COVID deaths than Canada in 2020 and 2021 combined.

        How do you explain that fact?

        Guess you think Floriduh is the model.

        Get vaccinated.

    • Unvaccinated and proud says:

      Make a better vax not the current junk.

    • Anonymous says:

      wrong – 80% of people OVER age of 5 are vaccinated in Ontario, Canada. If you include the 5 and under that percentage drops to less than 75%. Meaning 25% unvaccinated and of total hospitalized again 25% unvaccinated. Vaccination efficacy against hospitalization with Omicron = zero. And that number of unvaccinated also includes people that got covid within the first 2 weeks of getting the first shot. Partially vaccinated after the 2 weeks are obviously not unvaccinated since they took at least one shot of the vaccine.

      and a big chunk of the ICU spots are taken up by Delta cases, which is a strain that is dying out.

      Southern California showed the exact same pattern of no reduction in hospitalization risk with Omicron with the vaccine.

      https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.01.11.22269045v1.full.pdf

      Same numbers in South California.

  5. Anonymous says:

    This is almost a dereliction of responsibility on the part of the government.

  6. Anonymous says:

    The new “regime for travel to the Sister Islands” is 3-4 months too late. Cayman Brac has at least the same level of community spread that we do here in Cayman.

  7. Sloth says:

    If we are supposedly reporting Covid cases weekly why is it that our totals on the Worldometer daily report of cases by country have not been updated in more than 2 weeks?.

  8. Covid is not flu says:

    🙄Covid is not the flu. Worth reading this excellent summary of why not (with data) by NHS Medical Consultant Dr Dan Goyal
    https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1485911743142535168.html

    TL/DR Covid is still causing more death than pneumonia, way more than flu, and carries a massive burden on the health system. The secondary effects of Covid are almost unquantifiable

  9. Anonymous says:

    One would think by COVID season 3, we’d all know that “feeling fine” doesn’t mean shit.

  10. Anonymous says:

    We wouldn’t super-spread measles, or a bad cold, or flu, why have we become so nonchalant with public health during Covid season 3? CIG needs to dispel the notion that Comirnaty confers immunity from Omicron. After achieving a high vaccination rate, the mission has changed. The NYT has the Cayman Islands ranked as the 5th highest concentration of community positives in the world. If CIG wants the Cayman Islands to be a spring break family destination, they should (a) be using the LFT tools more broadly to screen out community positives and reduce community viral concentration – and (b) write $500 tickets for mask and distancing failures to restore messaging consistency.

    • Anonymous says:

      Umm – when have you seen mask mandates, travel and public gathering restrictions and quarantine requirements imposed by government for flu or bad colds? Nonchalant is hardly the word for the current restrictions.

      • Anonymous says:

        Actually, it’s widely understood, and generally accepted policy, that having a communicable disease (including a cold or a flu) means you are supposed to remain at home, preferably in your bed, ie. avoid going to work, school, or to the store to infect others. It’s a pretty basic minimal public courtesy. For thousands of years of normalised human socialisation, nobody threw a temper tantrum, or decried their civil rights violations, for winning that temporary viral lottery and self-restricting temporarily. Dummies are loosing their shit because they STILL don’t understand the twist that we can feel fine and still be spreading what we now know to be a novel coronavirus.

    • Anonymous says:

      At this point end all restrictions and testing. Trust people to isolate when they are sick and seek medical attention if needed. This is no longer a pandemic with Omicron.

      The testing and restrictions are not going to slow the spread anymore. The only way to stop covid is if we go back to the lockdown days of early 2020. I know for a fact that 99% of people will not want to do that. Nor does it make any sense. The UK is removing all restrictions on Feb 11th including testing. End the madness and stop the fear.

      • Anonymous says:

        At this point, the fear lives among those too scared to take a reliable, minimally invasive, 5 minute, and courteous LFT. Unlike most of the planet, we have lots and aren’t using them at the scale to end this. LFTs are more reliable than lockdowns. The NYT ranks us 5th in the world for community viral concentration because we are too scared to test ourselves voluntarily and rid ourselves of the virus. No prizes for stupid.

    • Anonymous says:

      “We wouldn’t super-spread measles, or a bad cold, or flu..”

      I don’t recall there ever were quarantines for flu. Not even in hospitals.

      What is “bad cold”? Lets not make things up. Common cold, bad or not has never been a reason for major concern.

      Measles is one of the most contagious diseases. The measles infected nearly every child in the US — until a vaccine was introduced in 1963. Measles infected up to 4 million a year in US before vaccine. As far as I know, there were no quarantines measles outbreaks.

      • Anonymous says:

        Well, use your browser window and search the recent hits for “measles quarantine”. Then, rethink posting “as far as I know” crap.

      • Anonymous says:

        an MRNA vaccine is NOT the same as a measles vaccine. so your argument is flawed.

        • Anonymous says:

          You’re right, it’s actually way better technology and the future… so unfortunately your mind is small.

    • TooLate says:

      8:20 “If CIG wants the Cayman Islands to be a spring break family destination…” Honestly, it is too late for the Cayman Islands to be a 2022 spring break destination.

      As a vacation rental owner, I can report that every booking we had from March through mid-April has been cancelled because of the requirements for testing during the stay. Most of our guests are now planning to travel within the US because finding flights to other Caribbean destinations this close to March/April isn’t easy. Flights to T&C, the Bahamas, USVI, are full. This would be because people can travel to those destinations without being required to undergo multiple COVID tests during their vacation. Like it or not Cayman will not attract tourists again until the testing requirements are dropped.

      • Anonymous says:

        Those other destinations offer more for the $, especially the Bahamas!

      • Anonymous says:

        Cayman should have kept the 14 day quarantine and gone for longer term stays. We all have to wear face masks for this foolishness. Your guests would know in advance what the story was and can come and relax in a covid free environment. Could have been

        • Anonymous says:

          Yeah sure! Come here quarantine for 14 days in the only place on earth to be Covid free. Except we never were, we only tested travellers not residents. Still your plan is not economically viable as it would attract very low numbers and tourism is a numbers game. In about a year or two of this Cayman would be bankrupt and wondering why all the major financial companies had left.

    • Anonymous says:

      2 week lockdown to clear out the covid. Then 14 day quarantine. Back to normal.

      • Anonymous says:

        I presume this is a joke? Or another Facebook Ph.D in virology? You really think Covid will just up and disappear? I know – you’re Sabrina aren’t you!

  11. anon says:

    who cares !! these draconian laws are causing mental health cases to rise . the UK are opening up with no pre testing before you travel and no 2 day testing on arrival .

    yet we are in the dark ages because the govt havnt got the things between their legs to make a decsion

    • Anonymous says:

      Ignoring the LFTs on the shelf, prolongs the financial interruption costs while engineering more immunity-evading variants. We are now well into sub-variant BA.2 with 20 more mutations over the Omicron BA.1. Exposure recovery and vaccination immune assistance is fleeting, so there is no achievable herd destination. There are however, reliable (for now), cheap LFTs in our hands that could screen this out without any reimposed lockdown measures, save for a final mass round of quarantining positives. For now, it’s the only quick and cheap actionable pathway to a return to normal life.

    • Beaumont Zodecloun says:

      You have reallly convinced us that the mental health of the population is your pressing concern. really.

  12. Anonymous says:

    #stopovertestingnow

  13. Anonymous says:

    Not everybody can afford to isolate.
    It needs to stop .

  14. Anonymous says:

    The UK has finally seen sense and dropped travel restrictions for ‘fully vaccinated’ and reduced significantly the travel restrictions for the‘unvaccinated’ – zero isolation or quarantine for anyone unless you test sick, which is frankly exactly how we used to deal with sick people before 2020

    This is exactly what Cayman should be doing and doing so immediately.

    • Anonymous says:

      We have a High vaccination rate and should now be pushing ALL persons to get boostered instead of trying to chase this up and down. We need to get with the rest of the world and MOVE ON!

      • Anonymous says:

        “Boostered” is such a Kenny word. Stop it.

        • Anonymous says:

          The term “Boostered” is used worldwide.. What would you like me to say dear sir? “Third Jab” mate?
          Anyway the point is that it is clear that the vaccines HELP keep persons from getting seriously ill, not prevent you from getting the virus!. Almost all vaccinated persons that get Covid recover fine. However most of the persons that comment on these threads are anti-vax with noting better to do than contend, an bicker, so doesn’t make any sense to be logical here.

      • Anonymous says:

        Doesn’t sound like the prison system has high vaccination rate. Why not? The prisons and nursing homes are where covid spread the quickest due to close proximity of residents. Why was this not addressed in the start of covid?

        • Anonymous says:

          Because the government is too scared to make the vaccinations mandated for their own so they continue to lose their own

    • Anonymous says:

      Comirnaty doesn’t inoculate anyone from Omicron infection. At best, max boosted, we hope it will offer a good head start once infected, reducing serious complications for those with healthy immune systems that fall ill. It doesn’t mean that everyone has a healthy immune system, that we still carry useful immune advantage indefinitely, or should want to fall ill at all, and/or expose ourselves or others so cavalierly. We need to LFT everybody to get beyond this. It would take just two voluntary tests per week.

  15. Anonymous says:

    We voted for the inexperienced and got the incompetent.

    Absolutely no leadership, very inept from Health Minister. She talks a big show in public – lets see how well she does in the courtroom.

    Life goes on.

    I thought communism was the next set of islands north (Cuba) – guess we starting to import more and more of it under PACT

  16. Anonymous says:

    This entire past week has been nothing short of Caymans version of the film, Dumb and Dumber, starring a bunch of numb-nuts.

    Some of these new regulations are so asinine that a coconut tree would scratch itself trying to decipher them. The LFT testing is what has led us to this explosive catastrophe we have now. I say this as it can be accepted that not 100% of the results, specifically POSITIVE results are being reported. Suggestion, undo all Regs, open up the floodgates and lets try to achieve herd immunity as expeditiously as we can.

  17. Anonymous says:

    The number of infections in highly vaccinated countries is being under reported and it destroys the narrative that this is a pandemic of the unvaccinated.

    January 24, 2022

    South Korea reports 8,571 new coronavirus cases, the biggest one-day increase on record

    • Hubert says:

      8:10, You might not like it but the stats clearly show in Florida, America and Canada that the majority of people that are hospitalized are the unvaccinated.

      Trump supporter get off your high horse that vaccinations don’t work.

      Really tired listening to the chronically stupid.

      Get vaccinated Bobo.

      • Anonymous says:

        Nope – 3/4 of the hospitalized in Ontario, Canada are vaccinated. And the proportion of vaccinated hospitalized with Omicron only is even higher. Same story everywhere else in the world.

        https://covid-19.ontario.ca/data

        • Anonymous says:

          Might check your reference, page alerts that the data is incorrect

        • Anonymous says:

          Interesting. But you have to remember that 79% of all Ontarians are vaccinated – 92% of 12 and over (children under 12 rarely have major symptoms). So hardly surprising that the majority of hospitalisations are vaccinated (68% rather than three quarters BTW). Vaccinated are still over represented – especially in ICU, where they are 51% of the cases.

          And look further down the data sheet you so kindly provided – of the hospitalizations, 44% were admitted for other reasons i.e. they were admitted for another problem, then tested positive as part of the admission procedure, so its picking up all the asymptomatic vaccinated who are in hospital for an entirely different reason. Whereas 81% of the ICU cases are in there because of Covid.

          Bottom line – if you are vaccinated, less likely to be hospitalised or end up in ICU. As you say, consistent with the data everywhere.

        • Anonymous says:

          Obviously you do not know how to read data. 90% of the hospitalizations in the Ontario ICU’s are unvaccinated.

          Nothing can help stupid.

        • Anonymous says:

          If you care to click on the link it says fully vaccinated meaning two doses has nothing to do with a booster. Also when you look at the ICU admissions it’s more even 50-50. I would assume that the majority of those vaccinated individuals are of a certain age.

    • Anonymous says:

      what have korean case stats got to do with cayman???
      your rhetoric is boring, repitive, misleading and irrelevant.

      • Anonymous says:

        if other countries have no bearing on us, why is our policy based on these same countries?

        use logic ffs.

    • Anonymous says:

      Correct, Israel is the most vaccinated country in the world and currently has the most cases per capita.

      • Ezekiel says:

        Israel also has the highest rate of testing in the world too.

        Has a lot to do with the Ultra Orthodox Jews there who refuse to get vaccinated for religious reasons.

      • Anonymous says:

        Tis funny when the narrative crumbles under its own stats.

      • Anonymous says:

        One unvaccinated group, the ultra Orthodox Jews, who make up 12% of the population of Israel and are largely unvaccinated, make up over 60% of the COVID cases in Israel.

        No coincidence that the one group that is unvaccinated makes up most of the COVID hospitalizations in Israel.

        Simple facts don’t lie.

      • Moshe says:

        As of today in Israel 81% of all people on ventilators are unvaccinated.

  18. Anonymous says:

    The system needs to be changed to encourage people to do the right thing and report it. It should just be a flat 7 day quarantine with no exit test required. Studies are showing that a person is not infectious after 7 days of a positive result in 99% of cases. Also, if infected, the government should be providing a small stipend for the inconvenience of isolation.

    If this system isn’t changed, expect people to continue not reporting positive tests.

    • Anonymous says:

      My coworker was asymptomatic for 8 days post positive LFT, then became extremely unwell, and still is 2 weeks later. It would be foolish to drop exit testing.

  19. Anonymous says:

    I’ve currently got two out with Covid out of 20, which, I suspect, is more representative of what is happening in the community, especially when I see how quiet the roads are. We are testing at least twice weekly, and paying sick leave so our guys know they will not be left in the lurch financially. This is a huge issue though, as we are a small company, and doing the right thing is putting a massive strain on our own finances. I wish the flow tests were fixed at a lower cost, but it has become a free-for-all, with some distributors marking them up horrendously. I’m all for people making a profit, but when they come in at under $3, and people are selling them anywhere from $5-7 apiece, you can’t expect companies to be able to afford to test routinely. I don’t see this ever ending.

  20. Anonymous says:

    Nice. The good doctor has adopted the “it’s just a cold or flu agenda.

    Omicron’s mild. Let it rip.” One month later: “Why isn’t my trash getting picked up? Where’s the produce at the grocery store? Why did the clinic cancel my biopsy appt? Why hasn’t my kid’s teacher come back to school? I demand [cough] service!”

    “Omicron is mild” translates to “I don’t care about disabled people and the elderly”

    This narrative adopted by the good doctor is driven by the global business industry and data shoes that deaths are a lagging indicator with infections.

    • Anonymous says:

      One month later: “Why isn’t my trash getting picked up? Where’s the produce at the grocery store? Why did the clinic cancel my biopsy appt? Why hasn’t my kid’s teacher come back to school? I demand [cough] service!”

      Why – because the government has forced the staff into lockdown, even though they are asymptomatic. Its not the disease that is crippling the economy, its the restrictions imposed by government.

      PS Disabled – really? Since when is a disability a co morbidity?

    • Anonymous says:

      I am sure the CMO, a highly respected and long standing public health officer and infectious disease expert, is a pawn of the “global business industry”. Whereas you, with your multiple medical qualifications, are the voice of reason.

  21. Anonymous says:

    Only an idiot would report a positive LFT at this stage.

  22. Bert says:

    Hardly overwhelming the medical system is it when only 17 getting treatment? These restrictions are pointless now.

    • Anonymous says:

      Bert the Covid denier is back!

    • Anonymous says:

      They are overwhelmed. They cannot even answer their phones.

    • Anonymous says:

      When 17 represents a vast majority of available ICU beds, the restrictions may not be so pointless as you say.

      • Anonymous says:

        Who told you they are all in ICU?

      • Anonymous says:

        Which if it were true would be a cause for concern. But it isn’t on either statistic – the 17 are not all ICU cases, and if bother to Google previous announcements by Dr Lee he has indicated we have capacity for over 55 cases and if they mobilize the field hospital, even more.

    • Anonymous says:

      What will Bert think if we continue to allow the virus to spread as it certainly is in other counties, especially highly vaccinated ones such as South Korea?

      Does Bert and the reopen Cayman gang wish that no one pays attention to what’s happening in other countries, or will they continue to push for elimination of restrictions because they want you to believe it could never happen here?

      Will Bert and the reopen Cayman gang be so bold if the hospital are overwhelmed?

      Will Bert be sympathetic to those who lose loved ones to Covid?

      • tom says:

        Based on the number of cases in Cayman its hard to imagine that everyone hasn’t had it yet! Reality is that every year a few elderly and immune compromised people die from the endemic Flu, but we don’t lockdown, segregate etc. This pandemic is well on the way to endemic, and it is time to move on. I think Bert and everyone else is sympathetic to those who lose loved ones, regardless of how they die, however you can’t stop all deaths. You could easily reduce road deaths in Cayman to zero, but that would involve reducing all roads to single lane, speed bumps every 10 feet and max speed of 5mph. We accept that living a normal life means some don’t make it. “Were I to invoke logic, logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” Spock

      • Jotnar says:

        Ah the old “hospitalisations and deaths lag infections” line. Except they don’t lag it by that much, do they. And how long have we had a new case rate of over 200 a day for? Weeks right? So when are all these waves of deaths and hospitalisations going to arrive? This study seems to suggest its 8 days on average –

        https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33709641/

      • Anonymous says:

        Bert is just a simple guy from Sesame Street.

  23. Anonymous says:

    “…described the symptoms as much more like a cold or flu..” Really? 🤔🙉🤨

    Unlike Flu, common cold can be caused by many different types of viruses and the condition is usually harmless and symptoms usually resolve within a week.

    But flu, the real flu is not something to be compared with cold. It wrecks your body badly, fever skyrockets and stays, bones feel as being crashed, headache is unbearable and when you start feeling better the symptoms return, then there is the after flu weakness that last nearly a month. Flu can progress to pneumonia; many die each year from flu. Long term consequences of flu are numerous and can be severe.

    One knows when he has flu and would never confuse it with common cold. The problem with flu vaccine is that it hardly ever matches the seasonal strain. But at least it is a real vaccine. I once was so sick with flu (I “catch” it once every 7-10 years), I thought I would die, so I got vaccinated the very next “flu season” ( though I got flu jab only once in my adult life).

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