Brac sees COVID outbreak as kids return to school

| 02/09/2022 | 24 Comments
Cayman News Service
Layman Scott High School, Cayman Brac

(CNS): Almost two dozen students across schools on Cayman Brac have tested positive for COVID-19 as kids returned to the classroom following the long summer break this week. The Department of Education Services said children at Layman Scott High, West End and Creek and Spot Bay Primary Schools had been infected and urged them to stay home as they recover from the virus.

Meanwhile, according to the latest figures from Public Health, the number of people coming forward for PCR tests continues to decline and no longer reflects the level of coronavirus in the community.

The outbreak on the Brac demonstrates clearly that the coronavirus is still prevalent in the community and the public needs to take precautionary measures regardless of the changes in mandated requirements. Public Health Department officials said they will now be focusing on hospital admission in order to monitor the status of the virus.

In the meantime, as it faces the outbreak on Cayman Brac, the DES said the health and safety of students were a priority.

“We urge the affected students to follow Public Health protocols for entering and exiting isolation,” said DES Director Mark Ray. “Despite the recent lessening of COVID-19 regulations, our schools continue to observe many good hygiene practices that have become routine since the pandemic. These include enhanced cleaning of the overall school environment and increased deep cleaning of high-traffic areas.”

The Public Health Guidelines for (Positive) Lateral Flow Test Results for Educational Institutions include a requirement to report a positive result to the Public Health Department and to the institution, to take a PCR test to confirm and to isolate for six days from the initial positive test. Those who have been infected can leave isolation on Day 7 and return to school provided the students are not experiencing symptoms, in particular sneezing and fever.

Despite the lack of enthusiasm across the general population for testing for COVID-19, the government appears to have plenty of lateral flow tests available. Now that testing requirements for travellers have now been dropped, the Department of Tourism gave over 90,000 test kits to the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), which oversees several residential care homes, where regular screen testing is still a requirement.

See COVID-19 Guidance for Educational Institutions – Revised August 2022

See the latest edition of Public Health Spotlight in the CNS Library.


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Tags:

Category: Education, Health, Local News, Medical Health

Comments (24)

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  1. daniel johns says:

    Hence I still wear my mask and clean my hands before I enter any populated area…

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  2. Anonymous says:

    5 September 2022.

    65 million people in China are currently on coronavirus lockdown – AP

    Next wave soon come.

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  3. Anonymous says:

    Its funny how the news is now talking about public must protect themselves. This should have been the number one message from the get go instead of focusing solely on who is unvaccinated and how much unvaccinated is in hospital. Regardless, taking the necessary precaution whether vaccinated or unvaccinated should have been the focused. Smh.

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  4. And says:

    And they are all fine.

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  5. Anonymous says:

    There will definitely be an outbreak in Grand Cayman schools and workplaces in September or October as everyone gathers together again in close indoor quarters.

    Same will happen in US, Canada and UK etc.

    But meghhh….this isnt March 2020 with a population immune naive population. This will just roll through with minimal harm.

    No one is REALLY thinking/concerned by COVID any more.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    Check the use by dates on those 90,000 tests “donated” for a photo op and get back to us.

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