Cayman’s COVID caseload remains high
(CNS): As of Friday morning, there were still around 5,500 people in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19, as another week of staff shortages plagued both the business community and public services. According to Public Health officials, on Friday evening there were 13 people admitted to hospital as a result of the virus, nine of whom were unvaccinated, including one new admission. The latest positive PCR test results showed that at least 230 people were found to be positive over Wednesday and Thursday, though those results have yet to be confirmed.
Around the world, numbers are falling and many governments have begun to reduce restrictions and mask mandates, but at present Cayman is continuing under relatively strict measures that do not seem to have prevented widespread community transmission.
However, the very high vaccination rate is certainly preventing many people from severe illness and has protected the health services from being overwhelmed, as has been the case in so many other countries.
Cayman’s double dose vaccination rate is very high, with 93% of the population aged over twelve having had two doses. Booster take-up, however, remains relatively low, with just 34% of those aged 12 and over having had three shots. Government is said to be commencing a campaign shortly to increase the number of people who have three doses.
The general vaccine clinic remains open at 131 Center, MacLendon Drive (behind Foster’s Airport) offering all first, second and booster doses to everyone over 12. Children under twelve only have access to the vaccine if they have pre-existing medical conditions or are living with vulnerable people. Those are being administered by nurses by appointment at special weekend clinics.
CIG COVID-19 information and resources
Report positive lateral flow test results
See current vaccine and testing schedule
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
or email flu@hsa.kyIf you are having difficulty breathing, call 911
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Category: Health, Medical Health
Oh lordy, another vaccine campaign. What will it be this time? What can we win?
I wonder if we will need to reach 80% of the population with a 4th booster before we can get rid of the 2/5/7 testing?
Cases don’t matter! Vaccinated deaths is what matters and there have basically been none. Omicron is no longer a danger to the boosted and everyone has had the chance to get their 3 jabs in time. So time to end all restrictions. We must have the strictest covid rules in the world. It’s just not justifiable anymore.
Only vaccinated deaths of those with a BMI under 30 matter. People have had 2 years to put protecting themselves ahead of eating cake.
So 4 people admitted. The unvaccinated chose to take the risk and cannot affect policy or the “freedoms” of the sane. Why does their “freedom” they bleated so much about to risk their lives mean our “freedoms” to live life are being curtailed.
For the vaccinated omicron is now less much less dangerous than flu.
Maybe, assuming we retain sufficient antibodies for our wild viral encounter, and everyone’s mileage may vary. If we were community LFTing, voluntarily, as a civic duty, the probability of randomly encountering wild community virus would fall to nearly zero. No change in anyone’s freedoms, except those who should choose to isolate until they are clear. We would no longer merit a Level 4 travel caution. Wouldn’t that be a better normal to aspire to? We don’t have to encounter COVID every day with the advent of these cheap reliable and quick test kits. We are just choosing to have a rate of 1 in 6 positive out of laziness and the irresponsible “fear of being positive”! We should reject that standard of “normalized” illness, particularly knowing this isn’t necessarily the end.
In 13 days the those who are positive in England won’t even have to isolate. That’s because covid is now somewhere between the common cold and the flu. 234 deaths today out of 69 million people. And most of them were unvaccinated fools. This is now a normalised illness, life with it has to be normalised and denial won’t make it otherwise.
You seem to be the same commenter who pops up in every thread trying to get people to buy in to your idea that everyone should be LFTing themselves on the daily as part of our civic duty. Maybe if this was actually a deadly disease but since its not, that is a waste of money and plastic. COVID elimination isn’t the strategy anymore so why the constant urging by you for the collective to teste so much. Makes zero sense. Who cares if 1 out of 6 people are positive. Literally 4 people in the hospital. How much longer do we need to be held hostage?
Government is taking away your freedom – not the unvaccinated.
Down to 1 now.
0.0002% Cayman covid death rate
Scary stuff, I’m more in danger driving to fosters
If only traffic cops worked as well as the vaccine.
Stop talking about infection rates and concentrate on serious illness and death, then you will be able to get back to normality.
Hide if you want, get vaccinated if you want, but sooner or later either you or a family member will get Covid, and just like the vast majority of people around the world, you will recover.
If not, you may die. But don’t expect the majority to keep shielding the minority because of their choices.
More people are now dying of flu than Covid, so those who want to live their lives behind the couch better stay there.
Thank you for your expertise in the field of epidemiology. What variant comes next?
The Bullshit Variant, although it can be argued that we’ve a few of those already.
Thank you and the selfish jackasses for creating the next variant. Go forth and spread the gospel of Covid!
We understand the fatigue element, but choosing to voluntarily infect others while contagious is completely irresponsible, especially when there is a cheap and reliable tool to verify your own status. We don’t go back to a normal economy with vigilante public health defiance. Instead we cycle through each variant that develops with high rates of infection and absenteeism. Many do not have the sick days, trust fund, and free time to take a week off sick every couple months. Not a grownup strategy.
Who is we? No one is choosing to infect others. The rest of us don’t want to wait for you to decide to come out of your cave.
It is time for CIG to make second boosters available to those more than 4 months past first booster who want them. There is no harm and it may prevent a few hospitalizations.
2nd boosters not yet approved in the UK so no point in leaving this comment.
If you are immunocompromised, I am sure your doctor could arrange with public health to get you jabbed.
You could also take a weekend in Miami and show up at Walgreens or CVS and get it.
You are wrong. 4th doses of the vaccine have been permitted in the UK for months.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/coronavirus-vaccine-people-with-severely-weakened-immune-system/
Come on CNS stop being so melodramatic “relatively strict measures”. The measures here are not strict in comparison to some countries that are still in lockdown and won’t even let their own people in. Our measures are lax. The laws aren’t being enforced so I would hardly call them strict. The reason it is spreading is because people aren’t reporting that they have it, children are going to school and adults are going to work positive with Corona.
Yes and those bodies in the street are really unsightly.
What a joke.
Much of the “freedumb” population are emotionally just like children, but they don’t have any mature adults to hold them and comfort them and explain it’s not fair, but it’s not gonna be normal for a while.
…and sadly, no press briefing leadership to explain it slowly.
Why is this still making the news? It’s not even mentioned on ITV news or BBC news in the UK anymore. The press and media are the ones fuelling this – stop reporting, who cares.
Why would anyone in their right mind even bother taking an LFT unless they absolutely were mandated to?
“Who cares”
did someone force you to click the link?
Responsible people LFT to remove themselves from circulation to protect others. Pity, some people will never understand how manners works.
Ridiculous. People who have the flu are usually pretty weak and stay home anyway.
Asymptomatic is just a fancy word for bullshit.
Stay in Skool kids
Thank you for being one of the responsible citizens. If only the selfish would follow your lead. In the post “tea party/QAnon/MAGA” era, it’s refreshing to see selfless and empathetic thoughts.
So pure and virtuous. How could anyone disagree?
Because the corporate media is pushing the pro business agenda with zero regard for the long term effects of Covid and the risk to those with immune deficiency problems.
All .0001 percent of them. Get vaxxed and stop whining.
If ITV and BBC aren’t reporting on Covid, then the pandemic is over. Awesome!
Common Sense would tell people that the cause of the high cases in Cayman is due to people vaccinating and also shedding of the vaccines. This is flu season and persons will get sick and not to say they are catching COVID. Stay home if you are sick, take vitamins and take care of yourself.
“shedding of the vaccines”. Good gawd.
Based on the reported delivery dates for vaccine doses over the past 6 months and the low numbers of vaccines being used since the end of November we have a large number of vaccine doses that will expire in the next few weeks. We also have the majority of those ‘boosted’ and most at risk now 4 months plus after their booster dates. When are the second boosters going to be made available or is it now policy to send those vaccines to the land fill rather than allow them to be used? Countries like Korea are now making second boosters widely available in order to control hospitalizations.
It’s so strange that documented protocols other than vaccines are used to massively reduce hospitalizations in the unvaccinated and yet those protocols are more or less forbidden or unavailable here in Cayman. If you don’t want the vaccine, they want you to die.
What in the world are you talking about??
Maybe the internet advise suggesting the ingestion of horse and pet mange treatments or caustic household cleaner products? Best not to ask. After this is over, there will still be some kooks we will want to stay 6 ft away from us.
Oh, I see, you’re the internet meme target. Most people, billions over the years, have gotten extrodinarily safe “horse treatment” in human form and dosasge from their doctor’s who know more about it and their patients than you or the person scripting the memes you merrily adopt from facebook.
It’s called off label use, which is something that happens all the time and there’s nothing controversial about it in normal times. You follow the memes and big pharma propaganda, I’ll follow the clinical results from all over the globe.
And your qualifications for doing so, are?
Geez they really were talking about Ivermectin. Ask your GP (not your vet) about ingesting anti-parasite horse mange chemicals for a virus. While torching your liver function and other organs, it will hopefully clear up any sarcoptic mange and help restore follicle density to your coat, if those are problems you have.
Ivermectin is available for prescription as an approved human drug.
Doesn’t mean you should take it ya dumb dumb.
De-kooked: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2114907#.YXCF7BhvwJs.twitter
Nah, the miracle cure is to stay at home for a week.
And you believed them hahaha
Anyone with $5-7 in their pocket could LFT themselves in 5-10 minutes and reliably confirm whether or not they are among the nearly 1 in 6 people in the Cayman islands spreading Coronavirus at a world record rate right now. Like laser tag or paint ball, it’s the honour system. If positive, tough break: take yourself out of this week’s round, and wait your turn.
You can wear a KN95 mask for around $5 (half the price of the dangerously unreliable cloth masks still sold at grocery stores with cayman flags on them).
You can distance 6ft or more for free, and be our guest.
You can also wash your hands and/or de-santitize at stations everywhere for free.
Gargling with Joe Rogen internet chemicals is not advisable.
De-sanitize? Doesn’t sound too smart to me…
if symptomatic, isolate till asympotmatic.
nothing more to be said.
cayman non-sensical restrictions have not and will never achieve anything.
Bad advice for a disease driven by the asymptomatic. If you’re going to cut corners and still be a semi-decent person, at least hold your self-release until two successive negative LFTs.
No one cares. We’ve isolated and vaccinated still caught it. We’re treating it like the cold it is.
If you are asymptomatic you can still have a high case load. Studies have been done to ascertain that. One study that I read was on the Wuhan virus which is the original virus. Omicron is more transmissible than that virus.
The only ones calling it the Wuhan virus are prejudiced against the Chinese.
Not really. Those who avoid the term could as well be termed Chinese Communist Party apologists.
But that is life. Move on and recognise it is not that dangerous. 15 people hospitalized out of 5,500. Time to move on.
11
For many professionals navigating real world deadlines, and important things to do, missing a week’s productivity, with body aches and a fever, is a PITA, and a substantial interruption. Death is not the only yardstick, esp when all COVID is easily detected with readily available LFTs. We need to cultivate responsibility ASAP.
The whole thing is stupid really. CIG locked all the people down, destroyed lives and they still could not stop the inevitable.
…your continued posting of drivel. Well done, take the rest of the day off.
Worldmeters shows 17,687 cases and 8,553 recovered, leaving 9,118 active, and 16 deceased. With 66,970 population, that’s 13.6% of the population reporting as an active “reported” case as of Feb 10. We don’t know how many are unreported in addition to that.
Source: https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.ky%2Fcontent%2Fpublished%2Fapi%2Fv1.1%2Fassets%2FCONT15BC71B12B984F7693E776884A4B243E%2Fnative%3Fcb%3D_cache_5d50%26channelToken%3D4085fcf4c9bf3af4583d286a36c001b3
It’s less than that, we are not publishing good data for international news providers.
I think you mean more than that. We know it’s at least 13.6%, plus an unknown percentage not reporting or testing. So with that we can infer somewhere nearer to 1 in 5 people in the community are positive with COVID right now. With stacks of LFTs in every store, at affordable controlled pricing, that’s not a statistic we should be proud of.
15 in hospital with COVID. Less than that BECAUSE of COVID.
Everyone has either had or will get COVID.
The important number was 1 new hospitalization.
1 new hospitalization. That’s all you need to know.
Another graduate of The Facebook School Of Medicine. Congratulations!
Shhhhh!!!!!! It’s tourist season!
Great, we may finally have achieved high vaccination statistics, but those stats are also paired with a personal decaying vaccination efficacy story. Many of our booster third doses began in October 2021 and we are already 4 months from that. By fifth month (March), CDC has published that booster efficacy can drop to around 30% Our confidence level should fizzle in realtime at the same pace as this information, factoring community virus level (world record levels), adherence (defiance) to public health regs, and our own dynamic state of immunity/health preparedness. Will HSA allow 4th doses at 4 months, and if so, on what date does that commence? HSA and CMO should not be surprised that responsible community members want to know.
Efficacy against infection wanes (because of diminishing circulating antibodies) but protection against severe disease is preserved (through B and T Cell memory, which takes a few days to kick in, which is why the vast majority of boosted are getting initially infected but not getting severely ill).
Just published in The Lancet:
https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1493241738768445441
“Compared to the unvaccinated, effectiveness… a third dose of BNT162b2 (Pfizer vaccine) was: 90% (88−92) against symptomatic COVID-19 not requiring hospital admission, and 97% (95−98) against COVID-19-related hospital admissions among all adults aged ≥18 years.”
Yeah, I’m not sure I want to crash-test the emergency systems when we can just get another jab and know for sure. I also don’t crash my car to test the airbags.
Obviously some anti-vaxxers bashing the Dislike button.
There are no self-proclaimed “anti-vaxxers”. People who are sick to death of rampant judgement are hitting the dislike button. I am one of them, and you are one of the recipients.
Why not do for yourself what you want, and give everyone else the same respect?
It is unacceptable and a human rights violation at this point for the CIG to keep so many locked up and isolated. It is time to stop all the mandates like in the UK. Mask wearing is pointless and not doing anything. Time to free the kids from having to wear them all day. It is disgusting how much these kids have been victimized in all of this.
You are out of touch with current reality. All those reporting a weak positive above 32 are allowed to exit on application online. For most people, that’s around day 7. I reject that anyone has a human right to infect other people while they are actively contagious – it’s the opposite – the wider public has right not to have to encounter people that are infected and should be at home isolating.
If you get the flu, you are not forced into mandatory, time-prescribed isolation, but rather self management.
Difficult to talk to Branch Covidians.
Best comment of the day!
True, but Covid is still not the flu. The flu is symptom-driven, whereas COVID is not. The goal is to keep others safe from you, not the other way around. That rule change was among the early reasons it was termed a novel virus in late 2019. Also why people that fail to keep up with the lessons, continue to get each variant as they arrive. 1 in 6 in Cayman right now, is some kind of world class stupid stat.
@11:58 – Correct. But the odds of you getting the flu and dying are much lower than the odds of catching COVID and becoming seriously ill with long term effects and dying.
If, as you say, most people are released at day 7, why are there still 5,500 in isolation? Please tell me who they are, if not positives stuck for more than 7 days.
Longer journey unvaccinated, primary contact unvaccinated, vaccinated new cases, and bozos that don’t yet realize they can apply to exit with low positive above 32.
But we are supposed to be 90+% vaccinated. If everyone that is unvaccinated is isolated then that’s approx 6,400. However children who go to school are not required to isolate, just to lateral flow so these numbers just don’t add up.
Why should you have to ‘apply to exit’ over 32? Should be automatic release.
In fact should be automatic release after 2 negative LFT tests taken in days 6 & 7.
PCR waste of money. Whose company is supplying these tests that ‘must’ be used to confirm positive & multiple attempts at release?
Recognising the BA.2 R0=12, and without a wider coordinated public containment LFT strategy, perhaps drawn over 2 weeks, to screen-out all wild covid, the merits of a strict isolation scheme doesn’t really add up. Public Health has no planned effort to screen the wider public, despite a world record 1 in 6 positive. Even with cheap, reliable, and available LFT kits. It’s a valid policy head scratcher, and a cheap and easy problem to fix. We need a CMO that can recognise we have the tool in our hand to really contain this and return to pre-2020 normalcies. In 5 minutes we can all know where we are.
Human rights violation, LOL. When will the U.N. Peacekeeping Force arrive?
Only a fool would report a positive LFT.
It’s a good idea if you travel. You get a certified positive travel letter to expedite international border crossings, and you are even allowed to exit on day 7 with a low positive above 32. You can also get a Labour Law sick note for your employer and claim more than 2 days paid sick leave. Or you can continue to lie, cheat, or get fired, I guess. That doesn’t seem like good advice.
0.006% of the population hospitalized with Covid, not necessarily because of Covid. Also, before you ask, no, the 9 unvaccinated don’t count, that’s on them.
The “with and not” Branch Covidian has logged on.
So?
In grown-up land, 14% of the labour force in paid isolation is not normal production strength and a significant drag on GDP. It has a big impact on everything, which is why we should be LFTing voluntarily and keeping our coworkers from getting sick, just like minimum courtesies we might extend during a normal cold/flu season. If there were a reliable test to screen out asymptomatic spreaders of seasonal colds and flus for just $4-5 a test, you better believe serious businesses would be doing that too.
You’ll find that most of those in home jail are children, not in the workforce. They are forced to report in order to continue receiving their constitutionally required education.
Hopefully with parents that they’ll listen to, that can competently explain how COVID works. Get well soon!
They can LFT & go to school!