Jamaica confirms first COVID-19 case
(CNS): The novel coronavirus, COVID-19, got a little closer to home Tuesday after Jamaica confirmed its first case. According to the Jamaica Gleaner, the patient, a “young female”, returned to Jamaica from the UK last Wednesday, 4 March, and has been in isolation since Monday after showing respiratory symptoms but is said to be in stable condition. Meanwhile, health officials in the UK have confirmed that a health minister has been tested positive for coronavirus.
Nadine Dorries, a parliamentary under secretary of state at the Department of Health and Social Care, fell ill last Friday and her diagnosis was confirmed on Tuesday, according to reports in the British media.
With today’s confirmed case, Jamaica became the fourth island in the Caribbean with COVID-19 cases, joining the Dominican Republic, St Martin, and St Barts.
A total of 116,558 people have been confirmed as infected around the world, about half of whom have recovered and over 4,000 have died. The worst hit country outside mainland China is Italy, where the death toll has reached 631.
Chief Public Health Officer Dr Jacquiline Bissasor McKenzie says the patient is in a stable condition. In the meantime, she says efforts will be made to trace all the people she may have been in contact with. These people will be quarantined. pic.twitter.com/cXp0xUeajj
— Jamaica Gleaner (@JamaicaGleaner) March 10, 2020
Category: Health, Medical Health
The mortality rate in S. korea for Covid19 is less than 1% As more people are tested and found positive, the mortality rate drops. S. Korea is testing more people than any other country. There’s likely millions of infected people.
Keep calm, it’s the flu.
This flu is overwhelming global emergency medical ventilation capacity. Iran has fresh mass grave pits that can be seen from space, and corroborated by frontline workers on the ground – no joke. Two weeks ago, with a few hundred cases, Italian doctors could lavish attention on those ill. Last week a few thousand, some choices had to be made. This week tens of thousands, the frontline doctors are making impossible battlefield triage choices for scarce equipment. How many ventilators do we have on island? Health City is closed. GT Hosp has a total of 124 beds, and many occupied/compromised for other reasons.
This video would calm down a reasonable person.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NLGX2L9JLa8 Coronavirus patient explains the worst symptoms.
They need to restrict entry to this Island! We can’t have it spread here because we don’t have the amount respirators required (and medical personnel) if hundreds of people fall ill to this virus. It will then come down to one person deciding who lives and who dies! i.e. who gets to be on the few respirators we do have! FACT! Other countries that have the virus bad, now wished they went on lock down well before it got out of control.
As Donald Trump (America’s immature MacKeeva Bush) used to say: How’s your IRA doing?
As Donald Trump says the virus is a Democratic Party hoax. I heard him say that on Fox News. Think we are all in really big trouble.
Don’t worry, Climate Change will return to it’s normal hysterics soon enough, when THIS hysterical shitshow is over.
This is just the direction the wind is blowing at the moment and there’s a lot of politics on the world stage.
Remember Swine flu-H1N1, MERS, SARS, Bird flu, Ebola and all the other diseases that was going to end the world?
I’m not saying you should go out and have have a face spitting contest, but there is no need to ram sack the grocery stores with your oxygen masks and hand sanitizer..
Here is a chronological list of all the hysterics driven virus outbreaks from the WHO for the last 25 years of you feel like revisiting past hyperventilating moments.
https://www.who.int/csr/don/archive/year/en/
Instant communication, social and mass media have turned people into irrational, hysteria driven freaks.
For a country with 60,000 mil people 1% would be 600,000 people and 3% of that is 18,000.
No countries so far have 1% people infected 3% of that dead.
Don’t bring “testing “ argument here, because if half population is infected but not sick, what is the point?
Many now recall feeling sort of, kind of tired, but not really exhibiting real cold symptoms as far as several months ago.
You have the brain of Einstein… Marty Einstein.
What to hell do you suggest? Not report on the virus? Go kiss some infected people to show us how un- hysterical you are.
As for climate change, even baboons can see what’s coming. Sheesh. Grow up. Until then, shut up.
Well they must have been seeing it since the early 70’s because that’s at least how long these prophets of doom been prophesying the climate Armageddon. just back then it was a new Ice age and acid rain was going to destroy the earth.
Besides, should’nt you be sipping your kool-aid to comfort your lonely brain cell?
Man started going extinct 100 years ago. While you seem to think the 70s were a long time ago, the natural order of earth is playing the long game. Carry on with your destiny,, little one. You may increase your intake of alcohol should you have any thoughts of doom or discomfort.
the Chinese love the sex trade in indonesia / africa… you think anyone is testing those most vulnerable in society? or even knows they are sick… ?
One infection in a shanty town and millions will have it. Worst part is that we wouldn’t even know about it because no1 gives a sh!t about those people.
Wake up.
so we’re suspending global trade on a whim? NBA / La liga / NHL… ban of travel from europe?
this is not the H1N1, MERS, SARS, Bird flu, Ebola.
This is happening and global trade is stopping because of it.
Major companies will fall when the real numbers for earnings come in next quarter, and when it becomes apparent to the banks that loans are no longer payable (boeing) – 2008 all over again.
A whim? Nearly 2,000 people have died in Northern Italy due to the virus in only one week. All the hospitals are filled to capacity. You are right, it is not any of those sicknesses you listed, but far worse.
Covid19 is said to often have very minor symptoms or no symptoms at all. Millions are probably already infected or recovered and don’t know it. If true, the mortality rate is massively overstated.
Just do what you should be doing anyway, wash your hands and cover your mouth if you cough or sneeze and calm down.
…and hum a happy little tune
…..until your dead.
Ebola, SARS, MERS, bird flu, never reached the Caribbean. This one has, in a matter of months. You would be crazy not to actively fear this virus. A woman has already died this week in Guyana.There is no adequate treatment for this virus in existence.
The woman in Guyana also had uncontrolled diabetes.
18 months before we get a vaccine. Just stay calm and carry on and hope Trump is gone in November.
In 2009 the swine flue (H1N1) was first found it the U.S. it would eventually infect 60 million Americans killing more than 12000. Globally it killed as many as 500,000 by some estimates. The vaccine is now included with ordinary flu shots. Millions, maybe billions of people never get the flu shot and are still at risk of getting H1N1 myself included. Those are simply facts.
I don’t remember the hysteria back then or now about H1N1
People have to at least ask themselves, why all of the amplified panic and hysteria now?
because social media is 100x more advanced and influential
So…. why now? What are your thoughts.
Jamaica just confirmed its second, confirmed case. Here in Cayman, Price Right is cleaned out. Shelves are empty. And we still don’t have test kits? If the effects of the virus continue to escalate, islands like Cayman, that are completely reliant on imports (including meds and food) for survival will be challenged. But islands like Jamaica and Cuba may be poised to be far more self sufficient, at least in terms of food security, during a global shortage since they have factories and the overall infrastructure to produce basic goods. As the United States starts to really feel the burn of this upcoming recession (or hysteria), and tighten their resources which may limit exports to our shores, Government may wish they’d established closer economic ties etc with our Caribbean and Central American neighbors. We cannot continue to tether our fate to North America. We need to nurture economic ties within the region and ramp up subsidies to local farmers to ensure more food security.
We have natural ponds all over the place that could produce more cheap farmed shrimp than we could ever eat, but I’m sure that idea would be as controversial as the port…
Really?
We are an island, it would have been so simple to keep this virus out if we had a leader with the balls to close the airport and stop cruise ships coming in a couple of weeks ago. This may have made us prisoners on the rock but we would have saved many lives. Now we will end up losing people and still end up being prisoners in our own homes.
Yes! When are we going to go into active Prevention? Still have idiots among us coughing and sneezing without shielding.
Mr premier will you start to premier now please and close off the border or are you going to sit and do nothing still?
First he needs to self-quarantine himself! Didn’t he return from the U.K. a few days ago?
A US Embassy employee who travelled from the UK is now our second case! http://nationwideradiojm.com/breaking-us-embassy-employee-is-jamaicas-2nd-confirmed-case-of-novel-coronavirus/
Please stop these flights for awhile stop thinking about the money worry about or lives and mostly or older folks lives for God sake.
Anyone who thinks this is just a flu should have their keyboard quarantined.
This is not just a flu. The entire globe would not be closing ranks if it were. This is not a drill. What you see all over the world is really happening. You are not in a movie. You are just in the Cayman Islands, where we really don’t pay too much attention to global stuff if we can get away with it (recycling? nah, put it on the ‘landfill’). But maybe this time we should.
The main differences between Covid19 and the ‘flu’ are as follows:
There is no cure for Covid19 (nor will there be for at least 12 months, probably longer, which means it’s going to come around again next winter – potential total global chaos)
Symptoms do not obviously exhibit in those affected with Covid19 unlike with Flu (this is devastatingly dangerous, explained below, and why the world is so worried)
There is no consensus as to how Covid19 is passed/contracted/lives – basically, we’re flying blind but already learning enough to enable mitigation.
In other words, you may as well call a mango a banana – both are fruits. But you don’t, because you know a mango is very different in fact than a banana. If you told your child that a banana was a mango, your child will tell you to stop being an idiot. So why are you telling people that COVID19 is the flu? Because its not.
Covid19 could wreak havoc in Cayman if CIG do nothing ahead of time. However, i’m not blaming CIG. I would not like to be in CIG’s shoes right now, because they cannot win any which way they turn. They are in an incredibly difficult position, assuming they are considering it at all.
COVID19 has no cure – but it does have a proven method of mitigation, and that is to shut down society for a while. See China. Soon see Italy. They do this to stop its exponential growth, thus enabling health care systems to function and not collapse under the weight of rampaging growth in serious illnesses among the old and vulnerable.
The most obvious thing to do is shut the Cruise ports immediately – but money rules in our world, and the fear of upsetting Carnival/RCCL and local operators will likely take paramount importance to the potential deaths of our vulnerable citizens for the time being.
Eventually, CIG may ban the Cruise ships from entering Cayman for a while, but probably about a month too late.
The Airports and private jet operations should all be restricted immediately. There should be health checks on every arriving passenger and crew member, anyone with a temperature/etc should be sent back or isolated. If possible, all health checks should be done at port of embarkation rather than here in Cayman.
Conferences/nightclubs/schools – all should be shut down for a month.
Work should be done from home by those that can work from home.
Elective and non-emergency surgeries should be cancelled.
Temporary ICU overflow set-ups should be constructed now at all airports/doctors offices/all Islands
Of course, none of this will happen until its too late to really have prevented a large scale breakout. At which stage, some of it will happen but it will fail to achieve anything more than a press release and a placebo effect. The health system could very well collapse. It will not be the fault of the health workers. Just like the dump fire is not the fault of the firefighters. anyway, it shouldn’t even be about fault, it should be about sacrifice.
Will COVID19 destroy Cayman? No.
Most of us will be fine. BUT, many of us may very well become unwitting players in eventual tragedy – the problem with COVID19 is that it can be weeks before anyone knows they’ve been infected (unlike the flu), and during those weeks, anyone with it can be passing it on to vulnerable (those with pre-existing conditions such as cancer/diabetes/heart & lung problems) & the elderly (anyone over 70….and maybe younger) who simply cannot cope with defeating COVID19 on top of their own age/issues.
Even those who MAY be able to cope will find it near impossible to get help because we will not have enough ICU beds/wards/professional workers.
And it will get worse from there.
So, just a flu? Go watch the news. And wash your hands. And again. And stop hoarding all the toilet paper, COVID19 does not make you sh*t yourself.
You forgot the churches
And the bars.
Take your pills.
Wow, I’m kinda concerned now. You’ve got a point. Where are CIG on this?
The Pinnacle BioLabs COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus Dual IgG/IgM Rapid Test® detects Coronavirus with two drops of blood in 15 minutes, and can be performed, resulted and interpreted at the point-of-care. The test is a colloid-gold immunoassay, the same test principle Pinnacle BioLabs has used in its Second Generation FIT® Colon Cancer Detection Test for nine years. The intelligent design features both IgG antigens to detect persons with Coronavirus for longer periods of time, as well as IgM antigens to detect newly infected persons.
A 15 minute test with instant, accurate results clinically validated against PCR testing.
Available in kits of 2 tests and 25 tests.
CE Marked February 20, 2020 for use in the European Union and Great Britain. For Investigational Use Only in the United States of America. The FDA has not yet evaluated the performance characteristics of this test. New lot ships 3/16/2020.
This test works. Get it.
Rob, Guess you know more than all the expert people at the Center For Disease Control in Atlanta. So many brilliant people on Island.
For colon cancer.
Can someone tell President Trump and the President of Italy as they dont know about this test.
How many shares do you have in Pinnacle BioLabs?
Surgeon General Jerome Adams said communities will need to start thinking about canceling large gatherings, closing schools and letting more employees work from home, as many companies have done after an outbreak in the Seattle area.
Need to start thinking? We have known this was next to inevitable for a month!
Surgeon Gen of where? He’s behind the ball.
Welcome to Jamrock!
The virus will get here no question it is only a matter of time. Like the flu most people will be sick for a while and that’s it. Like the flu and many other illnesses like cancer some will die from it. Can’t stop it or control it but you all don’t have to fear it. Get healthy and stay healthy and live a life of no fear.
This virus absolutely can be stopped and controlled. All you need is a competent government with the political will to do what is necessary.
So the previous commenters point stands true.
Below is a list of countries with and countries without coronavirus. Well done Cayman for having competent governments along with North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti and Zimbabwe.
List of Countries with Coronavirus cases (incompetent governments) :
China,Italy,Iran,South Korea,France,Spain,Germany,Japan,United States,Switzerland,Netherlands,United Kingdom,Sweden,Norway,Belgium,Denmark,Austria,Singapore,Malaysia,Hong Kong,Bahrain,Australia,Greece,Canada,United Arab Emirates,Iraq,Iceland,Kuwait,Egypt,Israel,Czech Republic,India,Thailand,Lebanon,San Marino,Taiwan,Portugal,Finland,Ireland,Philippines,Brazil,Vietnam,Slovenia,Romania,Indonesia,State of Palestine,Qatar,Georgia,Poland,Russia,Algeria,Saudi Arabia,Pakistan,Oman,Argentina,Chile,Ecuador,Croatia,Estonia,Costa Rica,Hungary,Azerbaijan,Peru,Macao,Albania,Belarus,Latvia,Mexico,North Macedonia,Slovakia,South Africa,Tunisia,Maldives,Brunei,New Zealand,Luxembourg,Dominican Republic,Afghanistan,French Guiana,Malta,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Serbia,Senegal,Bulgaria,Morocco,Cambodia,Colombia,Moldova,Bangladesh,Nigeria,Saint Martin,Faeroe Islands,Channel Islands,Paraguay,Cyprus,Burkina Faso,Martinique,Cameroon,Sri Lanka,Armenia,Ukraine,Andorra,Nepal,Lithuania,Jordan,Monaco,Saint Barthelemy,Liechtenstein,Togo,Mongolia,Bhutan,Gibraltar,Panama, Jamaica, Honduras
List of countries without Coronavirus (competent governments):Angola,Antigua and Barbuda,Bahamas,Barbados,Belize,Benin,Bolivia,Botswana,Burundi,Côte d’Ivoire,Cabo Verde,Central African Republic,Chad,Comoros,Congo (Congo-Brazzaville),Cuba,Democratic Republic of the Congo,Djibouti,Dominica,El Salvador,Equatorial Guinea,Eritrea,Eswatini (fmr. “Swaziland”),Ethiopia,Fiji,Gambia,Ghana,Grenada,Guatemala,Guinea,Guinea-Bissau,Haiti,Holy See,Japan,Kazakhstan,Kenya,Kiribati,Kyrgyzstan,Laos,Lesotho,Liberia,Libya,Madagascar,Malawi,Mali,Marshall Islands,Mauritania,Mauritius,Micronesia,Montenegro,Mozambique,Myanmar (formerly Burma),Namibia,Nauru,Nicaragua,Niger,North Korea,Palau,Palestine State,Papua New Guinea,Saint Kitts and Nevis,Saint Lucia,Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,Samoa,Sao Tome and Principe,Seychelles,Sierra Leone,Solomon Islands,Somalia,South Sudan,Sudan,Suriname,Tajikistan,Tanzania,Timor-Leste,Tonga,Trinidad and Tobago,Turkey,Turkmenistan,Tuvalu,Uganda,Uruguay,Uzbekistan,Vanuatu,Venezuela,Yemen,Zambia,Zimbabwe
Ivory Coast, Holy See (Vatican), DRC, Japan, Palestine, and Turkey all have cases. Nobody believes North Korea has a competent government or no cases of the virus!! For the rest of the countries it’s likely just a matter of time before they have cases reported
Great Uganda has f*ing Ebola, but at least they don’t have the corona. GTFOH
Japan?!!
It appears many of the people here do not understand irony.
Jamaicans come here illegally all the time whats to stop one with the virus from coming in and spreading it? To the gov and I pray some of you are reading this. You are all useless and you have failed this country at every turn. i.e. no equal rights for gays, the dump, smith cove, the pier, MAC the woman beater, traffic, gay bashing in the LA, just to mention a few. Ezzard is the only one that deserves my respect. Please Shirley, Rohan and others like you please give us a break from this nightmare. We all deserve better!!!
You have more to worry about from those Caymanians who refuse to wash their hands when leaving the men’s washrooms, those that spit in the streets or fail to cover their mouths when coughing or sneezing.
The lack of personal hygiene on these islands will cause far more chaos than the odd illegal Jamaican, who by the way have no known cases. The poor lady who has been infected is a joint UK citizen attending a funeral.
I hope this is the same mindset you have towards those coming here daily from USA, Canada and England. Unuh blame Jamaicans for every damn thing. smfh
I was wondering how long it would take you all to jump on Jamaican’s backs. Not a word out of unnu when the lady was in town, from another country, walking round in a mask, nor the man who flew from Italy posing REAL THREAT. You will all find out who the real threat on this island is…and it’s NOT JAMAICANS!!
I poo poo’d this scaremongering, but have since retracted my thoughts now over the recent few days. Especially that someone has contracted this virus and also infected, unknowingly, several others right on my doorstep! It’s more serious than people realise. You can have it a month and not know. You don’t need to leave the country or be in direct contact with anyone that’s visited infected countries. It’s being passed around quicker than you can ever imagine. The elderly (over 65yrs) or anyone with underlying medical issues and children under 2yrs are the most vulnerable. To avoid this best as possible is to practice cleanliness and stay indoors. Do not, however, do as the U.K. and panic buy food and toilet rolls!!! Coronavirus doesn’t give you diarrhoea it’s not Norovirus. These paranoid people create a shortage themselves! Just get in the basics as per your normal weekly shop. Maybe just a little bit extra for your freezer if you may be in self isolation and have no one to drop food to you. We have survived 2 world wars people, I’m sure we can survive this by just being sensible and vigilant.
to avoid panic buying by the hysterical feeble minded folks….shops should put a limit on how much of product people can buy at one time.
Anyone who travels through any major hub has technically travelled from an infected country. And that includes all cruise ship and airline passengers.
And FYI, I witnessed panic buying of toilet roll and other staples here on GCM today, so don’t point out stupid behaviour elsewhere until you are sure you are beyond reproach.
children under 2 are most vunerable???,…wheres your evidence for that nonsense?
Actually about 10% of cases of this new coronavirus result in diarrhoea. But still no reason to panic buy loo rolls.
I’ve been one of the harshest critics of Aiden & the PPM but this virus thing is immediately out of their control. Sure they can, should, and seem to have been implementing measures and caution together with a contingency to go to in best handling an outbreak but there is no way to stop it. It’s not a Govt problem, it’s everyone’s problem and we should all exercise common sense with best practises to limit its spread.
Well duh. Their platitudes and mis queues on almost everything they touch underscores that everyone is pretty much on their own. Make the best household immune health plan and be responsible when out in the wild. Nobody is going to hold your hand (literally) for you.
Social distancing is critical – and what did Alden do last night? Call a Town Hall meeting!
What did a representative of the HSA do when they got the first report of someone self isolating at home? Demand that they attend Emergency at the hospital.
Can’t make this up!!
My friend you talk too much sense for these “somebody else’s fault” “somebody else’s problem” generations.
For those willing to take responsibility please do – we all need each other’s help in this crisis!
I heard on the radio in Jamaica that they are looking for someone who escaped from their quarantine facility that has about 20 people in it.
I am in Jamaica. That person was returned to quarantine. The irony is that most people currently in quarantine are NOT SICK while patient zero came from the UK and spread it about for 5 days before getting to hospital. We are not banning flights from the UK or USA.
To the down voter, here is the news article http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/article/20200311/ARTICLE/200319923/1373
Why is there no full travel ban for effected countries?
Ask this government why we are still allowing people in from countries effected by the Covid-19?
Government apologizing for the mess with this dump means nothing if they’re not taking any action to prevent this virus from reaching our shores. It means they have learned nothing about what it means to have contingency procedures and implement them in the face of of true threats.
If nothing is being done such as full travel bans from infected countries like Jamaica, US and England then, you can take your apology and shove it as far as you can up your %&$!
The ignorance spewed here is truly baffling.
world health organisation has said travel bans are ineffective.
Ignorant village idiot….
If that combination is possible 😂
Yes, stop everyone from travelling here from America, and Jamaica, and England, and Canada, and … wait, what, does that mean our food/tourists/workers/friends/family won’t be able to get in and our society will crash? … Uhm, well, maybe a less extremely reactive approach is called for.
COVID-19 will get here. We have to manage that fact, not overreact, and transition to living with it, just like with other deadly communicable diseases. It won’t be pretty, but ‘ban everyone from travelling’ is not an answer in today’s interconnected world.
Why do we want tourists during a global epidemic?
Anyone care to elaborate? Or all of you just friggin idiots too.
Total moron. Almost every country in the world is affected, so before you spout village idiot nonsense, consider the total economic collapse that would follow complete national isolation.
When it arrives, and it will, the economic consequences will be massive enough when visitors stop coming and the service industry, which btw is run by the foreigners you all despise so much, are forced to stay away from work.
Cayman is going to get a harsh reality check and will finally realise exactly who creates the wealth on these islands and who keeps everything running.
Lockdown Jamacia.
or maybe “Jamaica”?
yep…should have been done along time ago
We are getting there…this thing is scary as hell, people are panic buying and we have a huge section of the population that is vulnerable. So we will probably soon look like Italy.