Mask mandate to remain until end of April

| 22/03/2022 | 156 Comments
Health Minister Sabrina Turner at the press briefing

(CNS): The government is not yet ready to lift any of its COVID-19 protocols and the health minister has indicated that even school children will need to continue wearing masks until at least the end of April. Sabrina Turner has said that Cabinet is still discussing the mask mandate for indoors, and with the return of cruise ships, based on an abundance of caution and advice from health experts, masks are still necessary when people are inside and where social distancing is challenging.

Speaking at the press briefing on Friday, Turner said that the requirement to wear masks indoors will remain until the end of the current regulation period, at the end of next month, when the mandate will be re-assessed.

“As it is right now with the introduction of cruise, as we relax other areas we felt it was the right thing to do to keep it in place just for a few more weeks,” she said.

Turner also said that while government was considering the mask mandate in schools, that was also remaining in place until the vaccination numbers for children aged five to twelve increased. “It’s a combination of factors that will lead us down that path,” she added, in reference to students wearing masks.

Interim Chief Medical Officer Dr Autilia Newton said that to date, only 340 children have had the first dose of a vaccine but she was hopeful that things would pick up, despite having a long way to go. According to the census, there are more than 5,100 children living in the Cayman Islands in this age group.

Premier Wayne Panton said that many countries are moving away from mask mandates even where they have high levels of infection, but he believed this was driven by political reasons.

“Our concern is to try to make sure that the health of our people comes first,” he said, adding that they were following the science and the advice of experts. “That effectively suggests we are not just yet at the point where we think it is safe to completely drop the mask requirement.”

However, he said the government was keeping it under review, “and it may be in four or five weeks’ time we can take a look at that… If we feel it’s safe, we are happy to consider that.”

Panton said the mask mandates would not be relaxed just because others were doing it, but if the paediatric vaccine rate increased and the infection numbers continue to decline, by the end of April, when the current COVID-19 rules expire, then it may become a choice rather than a requirement.

See the press briefing below on CIGTV:


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Category: Health, Medical Health

Comments (156)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    I live in prospect. Next elections may be three years away but I will not forget the pain you caused my son !!

  2. Anonymous says:

    Anti-mask idiocy. So stupid. All these lunatic “freedom fighters” only need to imagine a scenario in which someone coughs or sneezes near them at Foster’s or in church… Would you prefer that person be wearing a mask or not during a pandemic? If you say not, then your brain is beyond repair. The YouTube videos and chiropractors won. Nothing more to say to you than please do not contribute to the gene pool.

    #lame

    • Anonymous says:

      News flash – the pandemic is done. It is now what we call endemic, and is mild, so we don’t need to wear masks and live in fear to perpetuity. Life is full of little risks. If you can’t deal with it, don’t leave your house.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Complete idiots. Get on with living, if cruise ship passengers look like being a problem, then why are they being allowed in.
    Fools pretending to be experts.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Does anyone know what the point of Travel Time pre-boarding tests are when thousands of low compliance port-hopping cruise passengers are effectively exempt? Why are we hassling our best paying guests and residents? Dumb.

  5. Anonymous says:

    NOBODY is wearing a mask in any bar which are packed so why should the rest of us?

  6. Anonymous says:

    The Health Minister is “not” a vision of health and neither are most the MLA’s. So why are they making decisions for our health?

  7. Anonymous says:

    Just stop it Sabrina, you are only embarrassing yourself.

    Perhaps take a mosey on over the Cayman National Cultural Foundation Facebook page and see some great examples of mask etiquette being followed in the schools during Dress For Culture Day.

  8. Anonymous says:

    My employer doesn’t require mask wearing or social distancing with people crammed in desks next to each other. Why is the rule applied selectively?

  9. Anonymous says:

    Minister Turner – Thank you but please take then next logical step. The UK has just authorised the use of second boosters? are they going to be made available here?

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-spring-booster-resources/a-guide-to-the-spring-booster-for-those-aged-75-years-and-older-residents-in-care-homes

    • Anonymous says:

      Minister Turner – Thank you but please take the next logical step and resign.

      There, fixed it for you.

  10. Anonymous says:

    I actually see people driving with windows up and masks on.
    What next? Wearing car seat belts outdoors? Sheep!!!!

  11. Anonymous says:

    Yet again, so disappointing. Mask mandates should be over effective immediately. For everyone. No one wears one anymore in all offices, in bars and restaurants, etc. Besides being forced to wear them grocery shopping and our poor, poor kids who have to wear them all day (and their poor teachers too), everyone else has recognized what a useless tool a mask is.

    Who cares about new variants? Seriously. Every few weeks there is another regular cold/flu going around and we never report on that. Why are we still caring about COVID?

    This is absurd. Don’t get me started on still requiring testing and registration with Travel Cayman for air arrivals. ABSURD! This overreach and control needs to end now. US, US, and even CANADA have gotten rid of mask mandates.

  12. Anonymous says:

    PACT modus operandi: watch what the world is doing, then take the most retarded position imaginable.

    • Anonymous says:

      I don’t agree with your use of the “R” work (come on – its 2022 and you should know better!) but agree with the point of your post.

      • Anonymous says:

        Watch out, the PC police are here! Please stop pretending to be offended. Tired of the woke nonsense.

  13. Anonymous says:

    idiocy on parade.

  14. Anonymous says:

    Ah yes, mask wearing. Like that depicted on the social media images of the recent Family Resource Centre STEM Girls camp, that kind of mask wearing Sabrina?
    https://www.facebook.com/FamilyResourceCentre

    Or this kind of mask wearing? Asking for a friend.

    https://www.gov.ky/news/press-release-details/youth-parliamentarians-score?fbclid=IwAR3afJ4wEn9BfQVLYKMXiaDIp2DOqwb0nlqUptetudPMmbHHLAkJwV0qVmY

    Give it a rest, the game is up.

  15. Anonymous says:

    Simple solution – do not comply.

    I don’t ever wear a mask and no1 gives a shit that I enter their premises not wearing a mask.. except maybe fosters.

    They can’t arrest us all

    • Brian Tomlinson says:

      The Nazi security at another grocery store gave me a verbal thrashing today for entering their premises unmasked. Of course all of the nearby peasants looked on as if it were a public hanging.

      • Randall Flagg says:

        Simpleton using the Nazi slur to justify his selfish agenda.

        Well done, loyal soldier. Join us in Las Vegas.

  16. Anonymous says:

    Unmask our children Turner.

  17. Anonymous says:

    Simple solution – do not comply.

    I don’t ever wear a mask and no1 gives a shit that I enter their premises not wearing a mask.. except maybe fosters.

    They can’t arrest

  18. Anonymous says:

    If there’s life on other planets, then the earth is the Universe’s insane asylum

  19. Anonymous says:

    If there were more than a couple people in hospital I could see the justification for keeping the restrictions, but absent that there is no longer any compelling reason for these restrictions on our ordinary freedoms.

    This is a classic case of government overreach.

    Also, the vaccination amongst school children is not going to increase substantially, because many parents, quite correctly, have identified that even if not harmful, the vaccine is unlikely to have a material effect in terms of making their children safer.

    It truly is absurd that restaurants and bars are filled to capacity with people not wearing masks and cruise shippers running around that the only place where mask wearing is enforced is in the classroom. I personally have attended multiple indoor events over the last week where people haven’t even bothered with the usual mask theatre. People are mingling shoulder to shoulder, standing or sitting – it doesn’t matter. It makes a mockery of the law to leave these rules on the books.

    Children are the least vulnerable to covid and the most vulnerable psychologically to this kind of scare-mongering.

    It truly is enough. It’s shocking and disappointing how out of touch this government is with the sentiments of the electorate. I hope they are severely punished at the polls when the time comes.

  20. Anonymous says:

    CNS -seriously could you confirm what the rules are. The legislation appears to refer to hospitals, airport and prisons, Ian’s public areas. Does this apply to bars etc, as I can guarantee that is not what everyone thinks. It appears to be down to the owners of the establishment.

  21. Anonymous says:

    idiots. ignorance and stubborness, nothing more.
    masks should be optional and anybody old or at risk should have the right to choose to wear them.

  22. Anonymous says:

    Political reasons…. Like allowing cruise ships back while forcing zero mandates on the disembarked passengers?
    Why aren’t they wearing masks?!

  23. JTB says:

    How the hell did we end up with such an incompetent bunch of idiots for a government?

  24. Anonymous says:

    This is a joke…there is no way vaccine numbers for kids are going to go up as they require 12 weeks since having Covid to get the vaccine and most kids have had Covid the last couple months. So this is just a convenient way to push the issue down the road. Poor kids in masks all day while tourists and drinkers live it up!

  25. Anonymous says:

    Ok Wayne – so if the health of our people comes first then why are you choosing to damage the mental health and the education of our children by continuing to enforce this mask theatre in our schools? You know, like the rest of us, that cloth masks provide almost zero protection and children are in the absolute lowest covid risk group anyway.

    And yet you’re pushing little kids to take the vaccine they don’t need for a virus which is now effectively a cold before you’ll lift mask mandates for them?

    Instead of “following the science”, how about following some common sense and real world examples by removing masks in schools and giving these poor children their normal lives back.

  26. Get Up Stand UP! says:

    can we all ban together now and just say ENOUGH with this BS?? I just want my kids to be able to attend school and see what their teacher is trying to convey! Cruise shippers walking around with no masks indoors and yet here we are, paying for tests to re-enter our own country and wearing masks everywhere!

    We need to stand up against this foolishness now!

  27. Keep our kids suffering says:

    soooo our kids will have to suffer wearing masks forever then, until we decide to vaccinate? Even though sooo many kids have had covid without any major symptoms, and UK guidelines say kids 12 and under should NOT wear masks in school? Where is the logic?
    Turner also said “It’s a combination of factors that will lead us down that path,” she added, in reference to students wearing masks.
    uuggghhhh SMH!!!! once again nobody considers the mental health of our kids! Absolutely ridiculous!

  28. Anonymous says:

    If this is to protect children then mask all adults, tourists, and cruise-shippers until children are unmasked. It’s only fair.

    • Anonymous says:

      Kids that had Covid has now built antibodies against this virus. I pray parents don’t expose their kids to this vaccine. The persons who are catching Covid three and four times are vaccinated!!! Parents don’t be fooled by these morons!!!

  29. Blahblahblah says:

    Why all this just to protect those too selfish, stupid or foolhardy to get vaccinated? In England now the Health Secretary has just said that those with covid should consider “socialising less”.

  30. Anonymous says:

    Most of the kids wear cloth masks, which are proven to be the least effective. If she’s so worried about kids, why not add portable air filters to classrooms? They cost $99 each.

  31. Anonymous says:

    BULLSH$%! I was in town yesterday and most all the cruise ship passengers were walking in and out of businesses and restaurants with no masks. How can the CIG expect us to follow their insane mandates any longer? EVERYONE DROP YOUR MASKS TODAY! The science confirms it does nothing to prevent the spread of any virus. END THE MADNESS NOW!

  32. Pastor Alfredo says:

    Just call your doctor and ask for an exemption note. Anyone who wants to keep wearing a mask can keep wearing a mask.

    We’ve had mask mandates since September and the official figures have 20,000 positive cases out of a population of 70,000. The real number is clearly much, much higher. The mask mandate clearly had a marginal effect on the spread of the virus, if it had any effect at all.

    Hopefully James Austin Smith reads this comment and considers previous statements made about human rights violations as they apply to the covid restrictions, currently only allowable and in place because of the ongoing “health emergency”. My right to family life is violated by virtue of the fact that, if I choose to travel off island to see my relatives, I run the very real social and financial risk of getting stuck outside of Cayman for an indeterminate amount of time if I test positive. Leaving aside the debate about whether this should persist or not, the same testing regime is no longer applied to thousands of cruise ship visitors arriving at hog sty bay every morning. Therefore the application of the restrictions to air arrivals only due to the “health emergency” must surely be null and void if it doesn’t apply to a subset of the population, especially as transient as a cruise ship passenger.

    Time for either a legal challenge or for widespread civil disobedience of the mandates. It’s beyond farce at this point. Some, no doubt, will disagree and that’s fine. But I suspect the overwhelming majority will probably agree with me.

    Pastor Alfredo

    • Anonymous says:

      I often disagree with you, Pastor, but I agree on this one.

      The health “emergency” is over. Reasonable people can argue over the efficacy of masks. Sure, it’s entirely probable that proper mask use with the right kind of masks does have some effect on slowing the spread.

      The reality is, however, that cloth masks or surgical masks reused for weeks do almost nothing, and these are the types being worn – if they’re being worn. In most settings, i.e. every restaurant and bar, mask use is basically non-existent.

      We’re down to using them in schools and the grocery store. You don’t need to a PhD to realise that any reduction in transmission from this is basically negligible.

      The whole point of the restrictions was to “flatten the curve”. The curve has now flattened itself. A substantial chunk of the population have had covid already. Thankfully most people chose to vaccinate themselves and as a result there will have been fewer serious cases and deaths. The people who have chosen not to have taken a gamble which most of them will have one. A few unlucky ones will have died prematurely because of their choice.

      They’re now just keeping us under their thumbs because they can.

      I don’t think they’ve written any tickets under the laws because anybody with any sense realises that the restrictions won’t stand up to a legal challenge.

  33. Really... says:

    “Driven by political reasons”??? So how exactly do you explain Your actions? We have trailed the UK in everything else, why not in getting rid of the mask mandate? The is unacceptable, given that cruise ship passengers wander around free and unfettered.

  34. Anonymous says:

    this “health minister” is too lazy to hit the gym and eat healthy, but wants to use the power of the state to force other people to wear a useless piece of cloth on their faces that doesn’t prevent airborne virus from spreading. Democracy is mob rule by idiots.

  35. Anonymous says:

    This Washington Post article suggests that keeping the mask mandate is a good idea. Hopefully ‘spring’ boosters will also be made available.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/03/16/covid-ba2-omicron-surge/

  36. Anonymous says:

    I’ve really had it with the kids-last covid policies.

  37. Anonymous says:

    I agree with keeping the mask mandate a bit longer as the data shows that the Omicron BA2 variant is surging in Europe among those whose immunity is waining. I would also like to see government authorise a second booster for those at risk the way England has done. What are they waiting for?

    https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/03/19/1087682826/omicron-variant-ba2-surge

  38. Anonymous says:

    Yeah, no. Won’t be doing that.

  39. Anonymous says:

    Yes no more masks.

  40. Anonymous says:

    As of this week Public Health England is making the second ‘spring’ booster available to at risk people. They are doing this as they recognise that immunity for those who had their boosters more than 4 months ago is decreasing and they have also recognised that a new Covid wave caused by the newest Omicron variant is starting in Europe and has already arrived in the NorthEast US. Hopefully second boosters will be made available here very soon. The 24 deaths that have occurred so far is too many.

  41. Anonymous says:

    Save our children!

  42. Anonymous says:

    “Premier Wayne Panton said that many countries are moving away from mask mandates even where they have high levels of infection, but he believed this was driven by political reasons.”

    No way really? Not unlike the return of cruise ships, which was purely based on science……………..

    This government has no idea what they are doing.

  43. Anonymous says:

    This is sad but funny – HYPOCRITES – you just had a public photo of government and others together, indoors, WITHOUT MASKS!

  44. Anonymous says:

    Masks do not bother me at all. I do feel bad for those that have to wear it all day but such is life at the moment.

  45. Anonymous says:

    I just walked into and straight out of Kirk Freeport, no masks. If you’re not policing the visitors, you don’t get to police my children anymore

  46. Anonymous says:

    This is such a farce. There is scientific, peer reviewed, studies that show the masks that we are all wearing (cloth masks etc..) are next to useless for COVID and even the ones that are somewhat useful (N95 and to a lesser extent medical) when worn incorrectly serve no purpose. And if you look around – you will clearly see that almost nobody is wearing them correctly or consistently. So it is a FARCE.

    Look at the UK who have removed all restrictions. Or just about everywhere else… I imagine they also have “health experts” and likely more and better trained given what we have here… and yet we continue.

    Elected officials are showing their level of ignorance and lack of critical thinking ability.

  47. Anonymous says:

    So completely and utterly done with this now. We are letting cruise ship passengers off without having to test yet you are requiring airline passengers to test and everyone still has to wear masks. Feel particularly bad for kids in schools. Thought we were to be following the UK’s example. They’ve scrapped all restrictions. Time for us to follow suit. Enough of this. If you want to go around with a mask on then be my guest but it should be a choice at this stage.

  48. Anonymous says:

    What an utter joke this government is, bring on hundreds of thousands of cruise shippers, mask up the children in school and get your free magic spray at Foster’s

    • Anonymous says:

      I think the spray now is just water, it certainly feels like it as my skin isn’t coming off anymore having been sprayed twice in Kirk Market when you walk from the door to the hot bar ,for a couple of years….

  49. Anonymous says:

    These people are joke! #nomoremasks

    • Anonymous says:

      Generally this government just come across as incompetent and ill prepared. However the return of cruise liners feels distinctly shady. A small group of powerful local families have a vested interest and Wayne, who i thought was a decent guy, appears fully complicit. Mass cruise tourism brings limited benefits to the general population and causes immense damage to the fragile ecosystem. What will it take for our leaders to act on that?

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