Breach of gathering ban could mean jail

| 14/03/2020 | 150 Comments
Church of God, West Bay

(CNS): Government has said that it is serious about the ban on public gatherings where more than 50 people are in the same place at the same time. The ban aims to slow down and limit the inevitable spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in Cayman. People breaching it, unless in an exempted place such as supermarkets, could be fined up to $1,000 or even jailed. The ban is already in effect and will remain in place until further notice.

Hospitals, pharmacists and supermarkets are exempt, but work places are not considered public gatherings so offices and construction sites are not included in the ban. However, employers are strongly encouraged to implement flexible working arrangements to limit the number of employees who will be in the same place at the same time.

The restriction on liberty impacts government events, such as inter-school sports days, the Cayman Brac Agriculture Show and the Deputy Governor’s 5K Challenge walk/run, which will all be postponed or cancelled. Other gatherings, such as sporting events, church services, cinema showings, bars and restaurants with more than 50 people will also no longer be allowed.

Coming into close contact with someone who has coronavirus increases the chances of a healthy person catching the disease. Advice from the Ministry of Health is that limiting opportunities for large groups to congregate is one way to halt the spread. The goal is to delay the peak of confirmed cases in order to lessen the strain on the health sector.

“A sudden increase in the number of people who need to be hospitalised will add additional pressure to hospitals to respond,” government officials explained in a release following the premier’s announcement about the public gathering ban and other measures to limit the impact of this pandemic.

This attempt to “flatten the curve of infection” has been used by other countries and some US cities where it has helped to curtail peaks in infections. “Evidence shows that this approach has slowed the spread in countries where it has been implemented,” government officials stated.

Meanwhile, Deputy Premier Moses Kirkconnell, the minister responsible for tourism, the sector most directly hit by this virus, said that while cancelling events will add to the tourism woes, the first priority is the health and well-being of the people.

“The Cayman Islands has been preparing for the onset of the coronavirus over the past weeks,” Kirkconnell stated. “The Cayman Islands does not take this decision lightly. However, in the best interests of the people of the Cayman Islands this decision will ensure that the Cayman Islands is able to welcome cruise business in the long term when the current threat level has passed.”

Government has now also banned all cruise ships, though many people and even local physicians have told CNS that this move has come a little late because banning cruise ships a few weeks ago could have helped keep Cayman insulated even longer from COVID-19. But with no ships in port Friday and none scheduled for the weekend, the ban will take formal effect Monday for a period of 60 days.

Following Friday’s press briefing, where he announced the possibility of further restrictions next week, Premier Alden McLaughlin said Cayman is a very close community where visiting church or going to social or community events is part of the culture, but given the circumstances things had to change for a while.

“We all need to change this behaviour in the face of a virus that knows no borders or cultural boundaries. I want to emphasise to the public that these measures have been put in place for everyone’s protection. I encourage all churchgoers to instead worship at home and keep in touch with friends and family via telephone or social media,” he said. “The people of the Cayman Islands have faced many struggles in the past. At this time, we need to support one another to minimise the impact of coronavirus across our islands.”

See the new regulations to allow for new measures to counter the coronavirus, COVID-19, in the CNS Library


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Category: Community, Health, Laws, Local News, Medical Health, Politics

Comments (150)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    I guess that was AFTER they finally took the Doctor who discovered the virus seriously if this article is anything to go by ….. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/world/asia/chinese-doctor-Li-Wenliang-coronavirus.html

  2. Anonymous says:

    So if I breach the ban I could get locked up? What about all the fellows at Northward University that are gathered there? Will they be prosecuted for gathering in too large a number? To me it seems that this ban is shortsighted!

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    • Anonymous says:

      Calm down and just stop. No one is going to prosecute you for anything. You’re in Cayman FFS.

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  3. Cayman Reset says:

    Unfortunate as the situation is it’s time for Johnny come lately to get out of Dodge ! Those UK flights need to be stopped as their policy of hoping everybody gets it quick doesn’t work for Cayman No Herd mentality here our lives are just as precious as theirs.

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  4. Anonymous says:

    So does this means a law that will be enforced by the police? They will actually be out among us looking for law breakers? I didn’t think that kind of thing was done here. Ever.

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  5. Chris Johnson says:

    Well said indeed. Rather than criticize everything that comes along readers should be of a contructive mind. In times of difficulty we need band together and make positive suggestions. This is a crisis and many people will need a lot of help. Both Government and the private sector need reach out to the less fortunate as a matter of urgency.

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    • anonymous says:

      Well said Chris

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    • Anonymous says:

      Then we should hold Moses accountable for letting the ship stop in and drop an ill person. What did you say Moses…… discrimination????
      When are you all going to do the right thing???

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  6. Anonymous says:

    I am not so sure why it is so important for some people to parade their macho and badmouth the media on this, but some highly HIGHLY educated and experienced people with no political agenda are trying to save lives and misery in this situation.
    If you have an opinion please share those opinions and theories quietly with a buddy, and let your opinion go no farther than that.
    The world thanks you.

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  7. Anonymous says:

    As a responsible restaurant owner may I suggest that next time the Government don’t hold a press conference at 5PM on a Friday to impose restrictions effective immediately and then threaten people.
    Many businesses were not aware of the restrictions as they didn’t happen to be watching the press conference. Happy to comply, but get the word out better.

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  8. Anonymous says:

    I believe Cayman is suffering from the same problem the US is struggling with. About half the population are dedicated Fox News watchers. This leaves them not only ignorant of reality but profoundly confident in their stupidly. This a dangerous thing during times of crisis. This is why we see some many people who not only don’t understand the basics of this pandemic but are actively arguing for the worst possible actions.

    A Republican congressman was recently on Fox encouraging people to go out to restaurants for family dinners. There was, of course, no challenge or pushback from the interviewer, even this contradicts appeals from all relevant experts. No doubt thousands of Caymanians saw this American moron’s comments and accepted it as reasonable.

    Someone in our government should publicly discourage Caymanians from watching this network and explain that Fox News is irresponsible profit-motivated propaganda and not credible fact-based journalism. No one should ever rely on it to be informed in the best of times. But now it really matters.

    #lame

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    • Anonymous says:

      If you mean as irresponsible as the CNN and MSNBC, then I totally agree.

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      • Anonymous says:

        No. FOX is much worse.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Dear “3:39”,
        Not even close. MSNBC has a clear and obvious liberal/Democrat bias but it still comes much, much closer to reality than Fox News.

        CNN is sensationalism for profit. They ignore much of the world and important news in America so they can serve up Trump controversies or other disaster entertainment because it draws eyeballs, But still they still come much, much closer to reality than Fox News.

        This is not opinion. Social scientists have confirmed it. Fox News viewers are less informed on national and world events than are people who watch no news at all.

        Think about that. Watching Fox News doesn’t simply leave viewers ignorant, It makes them far more stupid than the merely ignorant because they are spoon fed so many fantasies and lies.

        #lame

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      • Anonymous says:

        You need serious help.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Good luck in life, you will have a hard time with how gullible you are.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Fox News or social media like Facebook? Some of the stupid rubbish being posted online is downright scary.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Facebook should be dismantled and erased from existence. I can think of nothing that is contributing to the downfall of civilization more heartily.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Thank you.

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    • Anonymous says:

      The best thing our government could do here is ban the broadcasting of Fox and any of their affiliates as a matter of public health

      Their programming and broadcasts are pushing messaging directly opposite to the experts and our understanding of how to combat pandemics and outbreaks and giving people the exact wrong information

      This is the journalistic equivalent to firefighters telling people its safe to run back into a burning building to grab their things

      Faux News needs to go

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      • Anonymous says:

        It’s clear you don’t watch Fox news. You haven’t a clue what you are talking about.

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        • Anonymous says:

          I myself don’t watch it, but their website continues to spew bad information.

          Devin Nunes: it’s a great time to go out and eat.

          Some dumb blonde on fox and friends: now is the safest time to fly.

          FFS, take these people off the air and lock them up

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          • Anonymous says:

            I see, you read a facebook meme about what someone on Fox said. Another facebook meme credited Cuba for curing Covid-19. I’ve been watching all networks. Other than the viral grade TDS found at CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, NYT, WAPO the message is pretty much the same where Covid-19 is concerned. But by all means, continue with your fear of Fox News if that calms your hyper anxiety.

        • Anonymous says:

          i occasionally do to see what its spin is on things. It is pure pro-Trump/anti-Democrat propaganda. CNN is almost as bad on the other side, but they don’t try to spin COVID19 into a non-threat. What Fox is doing right now is criminal, or at least should be.

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  9. Anonymous says:

    We know this was going on In China at least a month before they shut down. So, why are there no spikes in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tokyo, or even Vancouver? They should be farther along the timeline, right? That leaves me with a logical conclusion: It’s not that this bug is that bad, it’s that for a small percentage of the population it’s very bad, and huge numbers of people have already had it, have it and will get it. The much discussed fatality rate is a ratio of deaths to KNOWN cases of infection. That denominator is much, much larger than being assumed when you add in all of the mild cases that don’t get tested and don’t need treatment. Still a bad bug for those close to death from other causes. Look out for them. Behave as if you are infected.

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    • Anonymous says:

      No. The Chinese government imposed very fast and restrictive quarantines. Way more severe than what we are seeing in the West right now. If they hadn’t death rates likely would be much higher.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Death totals, not necessarily the rate of mortality, which is the wrong yardstick. The recovered are still in terrible shape, some of them with permanent lung probs. The error in terming this as “a bad flu” has paralyzed Europe.

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        • Anonymous says:

          It has not been revealed how many fatalities were found to be infected but actually died of the underlying condition, of which they may have died from in any case.
          Any cold or flu, or any other viral or bacterial infection could have had the same result, but until post-mortem investigations are completed it is impossible to say what the actual cause of death was.
          We need to be very cautious with these death rate projections as these poor people may have succumbed in any ‘normal’ infection season, we won’t really know until infection rates subside and an overview of mortality univocally points directly to Covid infection. This morbid fascination by the press with death rates is both scaremongering and inaccurate, it is also morally repugnant.
          I sincerely hope that death rates do not rise significantly above average annual numbers, but we should remain on the highest alert, especially for those who are most at risk.

          • Anonymous says:

            Hey Idoit – we all have an underlying condition called life – it is 100% fatal. Most of us, excluding perhaps those who only get their news from Fox, would like to prolong the inevitable as long as possible. If you think this is merely scaremongering, then by all means go party with other dumbf***s all you want, but can you please stop regurgitating Fox News nonsense? It puts people at risk.

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            • Macy says:

              Please stop calling people idiots or other names. I don’t even owe a TV and have no TV service for more than 10 years. My opinion is my opinion (not this one) and yet, you or like you called me so many different names. Yet all my “predictions” about many things came true. The next one could be shortage of fresh produce in the absence of agricultural sector here. No food reserves either. Your leaders attended an agricultural event in Jamaica last August ( the link is in my comment), yet nothing positive came out of it.

              • Anonymous says:

                Yes Macy you got that right – and nothing good ever comes out of there… I t was all lies they told us the conference/visits were about marine boundaries, agriculture etc etc. when in fact it was about Caribbean airlines and the dock. Nothing that would benefit us, only carry us down. Brain washed idiots!!!!

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            • Anonymous says:

              Death was taken differently just 100 years ago. It was expected and people could cope with grief.
              Today, nearly every death is a tragedy (even a stranger’s death) and coping mechanisms are broken.
              Your anger is misplaced. If you need to get your steam out, take a long swim perhaps?

      • Anonymous says:

        2:12 You obviously believe the crap the WHO put out about what happened in China. The reality was they tried to keep a lid on it until things got so serious they couldn’t cover it up any longer. The current death rates there are a reflection of a policy of detaining suspected COVID-19 victims in temporary facilities without proper medical care, food, sanitation or heating.

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    • Anonymous says:

      With all due respect, the CDC (not trump, Hannity, etc.) are the ones to follow on this. Armchair epidemiologists should keep their opinions to themselves.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    The first confirmed case in China was Nov. 17. There has definitely already been community spread in the US and other countries. It was a very bad flu season and some of those cases were Covid. Now it’s just about protecting the elderly and those immunocompromised.

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  11. Anonymous says:

    Covid-19 has been out in the world for 3 months. In a global population of 7.1 billion it’s caused approximately 5k deaths. Yet we’re supposed to believe it’s going to suddenly be exponentially worse in the U.S.? Utter nonsense from the media, cherry picking soundbites and quoting snippets out of context.

    CNS: The media is not fuelling this. It is medical experts trying to get people and politicians to take this seriously to minimse illness and deaths. The CDC has now calculated best case and worst case scenarios. Under the worst case scenario, 21 million people in the US could require hospitalization, while there are only about 925,000 staffed hospital beds. If people and politicians take this seriously, the worst case scenario won’t happen. Your attitude might kill people. That doesn’t mean panic, that means stop believing that this is a hoax and take it seriously.

    This is from the New York Times, quoting a medical expert in the field (read the whole thing here):

    Even severe flu seasons stress the nation’s hospitals to the point of setting up tents in parking lots and keeping people for days in emergency rooms. Coronavirus is likely to cause five to 10 times that burden of disease, said Dr. James Lawler, an infectious diseases specialist and public health expert at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Hospitals “need to start working now,” he said, “to get prepared to take care of a heck of a lot of people.”

    Dr. Lawler recently presented his own “best guess” projections to American hospital and health system executives at a private webinar convened by the American Hospital Association. He estimated that some 96 million people in the United States would be infected. Five out of every hundred would need hospitalization, which would mean close to five million hospital admissions, nearly two million of those patients requiring intensive care and about half of those needing the support of ventilators.

    Dr. Lawler’s calculations suggested 480,000 deaths, which he said was conservative. By contrast, about 20,000 to 50,000 people have died from flu-related illnesses this season, according to the C.D.C. Unlike with seasonal influenza, the entire population is thought to be susceptible to the new coronavirus.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Thank you, CNS. Forgive the Fox News junkies; they know not how to think.

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    • BeaumontZodecloun says:

      In Italy, even with closed borders, doctors are having to triage admitted patients to decide who has the best chance of living. Italy tried to suppress the sharp curve of infections and were unsuccessful, or at best, partially successful. Here we are, looking upstream, and having the arrogance to suppose that our fate will be different.

      Some people are young and uncaring of our elders. I have heard the phrase “thinning of the herd”. You don’t have that mindset, do you? We need to protect every one of us, regardless of where we were born, and the best way for everyone to protect all of us is to change our personal protocols of safety and infection:

      1. Clean your hands before you touch your face.
      2. Maintain a decent distance from everyone, and a further distance from obviously sick folk.
      3. Avoid crowds, especially bars and pubs.
      4. Support our elders; shop for them, assure them that we’ll be okay, influence them to stay home until the threat has passed, no matter how long it takes to reach that state.
      5. Be conscious of those circumstances in which the virus could be spread. Have situational awareness. Doesn’t mean you have to be afraid, and panic doesn’t help. Be calm and change your ways and in that way we will protect our elders and those who are immuno-compromised.

      We will get through this. I hope it happens soon, but it is possible that this virus will take a year or more to burn out. Nobody knows. It’s a new strain. Be safe, even though you don’t appear to extend that sentiment to everyone else.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Not enough. You are relaying the same bad advice that Europe took. Now they are pleading with us to learn from their mistake and for everyone to stay home.

      • Anonymous says:

        Great comment but just one point – in a an extreme crisis doctors will always triage patients to maximise the available resources. That’s what they’re trained to do.

    • Anonymous says:

      Please shut up. The CDC is not out to get you. The Republican Party maybe has some interest in conning joe public, but the CDC just wants to save your life.

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  12. Anonymous says:

    People, be safe. Listen to the experts and act accordingly. Regardless of your risk factor, protect the most vulnerable among us.

    On a lighter note, it’s hilarious seeing that several faith-healing events were cancelled in the US and South America even before government crowd bans took effect. So much for the old power of prayer, huh?

    Think about it. They don’t want to risk getting ill while confidently praying to an all-powerful God for protection against illness. Yeah, makes perfect sense.

    #lame

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  13. Anonymous says:

    Judging by the tone of the mainstream and financial press of Western countries, they are afraid not only of the coronavirus itself, but of measures to stop the epidemic. The latter will simply collapse, they are afraid, the “credit card house” of their economies.

    The coronavirus will bankrupt more people than it will kill – and this is a real global emergency. Maybe later on we will look back at the coronavirus as the moment when the threads fastening the global economy were torn.

    In theory, a large and diversified economy – and the United States , the European Union , and Great Britain fall under this description should easily withstand the problems associated with a temporary (lasting one to two months) decline in economic activity. However, practice shows that this axiom functioned relatively well in the past, but not now. In conditions of record borrowing by businesses, population and state budgets, even a not very long suspension of economic activity can lead to panic and chain reaction of defaults with unpredictable (but hardly positive) economic consequences. It is worth recalling that a few weeks ago, the Chinese poll of small and medium-sized businesses, which did not bode well for the Chinese economy, was relished in the Western media with undisguised pleasure. Many commentators were looking forward to massive Chinese defaults with potential economic collapse and a crisis in the banking system.

    China came out of the situation with the help of extremely harsh measures to influence the epidemic and fit into the time limit – it is clear that there will be economic damage, but no collapse is observed. At the same time, China in the Western media was accused of using “authoritarian” methods to combat the epidemiological threat, hinting that these methods will not be applied in countries of “developed democracy”. This position is understandable in its own way, but it has a serious minus – the vulnerabilities in the US or EU economies are more acute than those in China and public finances are in worse shape.

    It is in this context that one should understand the reaction of the American stock markets, which grew on Friday night amid President Trump’s announcement of a state of emergency: the question is how much will this optimism suffice. The problem is also that even in the USA, few people understand what exactly broke in the “financial house of cards”, and this makes them feel even worse.

    Behind the facade of the figures that are published in headlines of newspapers, there were series of market movements that do not make sense if you compare them. These movements are not final but alarming signs: something is breaking down in the work of the financial system, even if it is not yet clear what it is.

    There have been reports from bank and financial institutions traders that many assets that are usually liquid — they are easy to buy and sell — are frozen, and securities are not actively traded. This was true for both “bonds issued by municipalities and large corporations, but, more curiously, also with respect to treasury bonds (the US Treasury Department ), which are usually the backbone of the global financial system.”

    When The New York Times describes US bonds as the basis of the global financial system, it does not exaggerate – it really is. US government bonds are the so-called risk-free asset for the global economy – the debt of a country that issues the planet’s main currency. And, accordingly, in times of global economic turmoil, buyers should line up and almost beg the US Treasury or other holders of such bonds to sell them the most reliable security on the planet.

    But this time, judging by the statements of the American media and the actions of the Federal Reserve, which announced the infusion of about five trillion dollars into the financial system, everything is not going according to plan. There is simply a shortage of private and foreign buyers of the main US asset, the demand for which, in fact, ensures both coverage of the US budget deficit and stability of financial markets.

    Perhaps the Federal Reserve will have enough strength to fill the whole problem with money and (directly or indirectly) finance the relief of all economic problems associated with the coronavirus, and make it so that the dollar does not break into an inflationary tailspin. However, the fact that in conditions of financial stress, investors deserted the US government bond market, indicates that at least some of the financial market participants are considering other, much more unpleasant scenarios.

    Due to the global nature of the modern world economy, successfully overcoming the risks of the financial collapse of the United States and the European Union amid an epidemic will bring economic benefits to China. When the economies of importers of Chinese exports suffer, this creates a negative impact on export-oriented countries. But no matter how the current episode of financial turbulence ends, work on building an international economy that is independent of the “collective West” should definitely get a new impetus. Western partners are too vulnerable over and over again.

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  14. Anonymous says:

    Respiratory system of many Caymanians is compromised due to prolonged exposure to toxic smoke from the Dump fire. How fast you forget things like that.
    What it is going to do to you if you catch Corona?

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  15. Anonymous says:

    Good that government has done this because the officials was facing a serious time of something if this gets out of hand.

    The public can work their threats too and mean it.

  16. Anonymous says:

    This restriction is ridiculous!

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  17. Take the hit says:

    Close the islands to flights except cargo flights. I will happily reimburse the tourists at my Airbnb

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  18. Questions that need answered says:

    I’ve alrwady heard the the Kimpton is laying off staff as they are loosing 100’s of thousands of dollars, I wonder if the other hotels are doing the same?

    CNS can you confirm.

    On the note of public spaces, so if 50 people are on the sea at rum point, stingray city, Camana Bay, public beaches these people are also going to be arrested like Bar and restaurant owners? I can’t see Alden or Joey arresting Ken Dart!

    I also would like to know Mr Miller opinion and is this legal under our constitution? Also what are the repercussions to government for forcing businesses to go into bankruptcy?

    CNS: We’ll be doing stories on the repercussions of this all next week.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Calm down.

    • Anonymous says:

      This is a very good point. CIG are imposing a public places ban, but many premises are private and in the open air, what are the legal ramifications or human right issues here?

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  19. Anonymous says:

    “Slow down” or “limit” the spread? What about banning ALL gathering to try to reach a higher bar? Geezum! Thank goodness the cruise lines stopped arrivals to Cayman — a decision our government was clearly not inclined to do. This is a tiny island and if we now stop air flights and lock down for a while we can “flatten the curve” and get this over with in a much shorter time.

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    • Anonymous says:

      And then open again and a new wave of infection comes in.

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    • Anonymous says:

      If you flatten the curve it takes longer, not shorter. It’s about reducing the maximum number of infections at any point in time, not about reducing duration. If logic isn’t your strong point try looking at the diagram.

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    • Anonymous says:

      So what’s going to happen next year when a new flu strain is introduced? And the year after? Are they going to close the schools and stop the planes for months every time a new virus shows up?
      Why doesn’t social media and the news say the survival rate is 96 % instead of the 24/7 panic of 4% death rate world wide?

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      • BeaumontZodecloun says:

        What is your solution?

        In case you haven’t noticed, our current existence has changed. We don’t know how long it will remain changed — it is an unknown all around the globe. It is entirely possibly that Covid — with an RO number of 3-4 — will be coming back next year and the next. I hope like hell that isn’t true. Nobody knows.

        COVID has a general RO — the transmissibility — of 3.0 – 4.0, which is 3-4 times more virulent than the seasonable flu. That 4% is roughly 30-40 times more than the 0.1% of the seasonal flu.

        What is your solution? Just grin and bear it? Shouldn’t we try to flatten the curve of response?

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      • Anonymous says:

        This isn’t like any kind of flu you’ve had before. Those recovered are not the same.

      • Anonymous says:

        Because 4% of 7 billion people on Earth is 280 million dead people you moron.

  20. Anonymous says:

    Anything short of radical prolonged social distancing is going to be killing and permanently injure many many people in the Cayman Islands. We don’t have anywhere near the medical ventilation capacity or HIV drugs necessary to keep people alive and comfortable while their immune systems hopefully catch up. We’re still getting costly mixed messages from this idiotic self-serving regime.

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    • Anonymous says:

      What mixed messages 7:11? The message has been the same for several weeks. Safe hygiene and washing hands. Social distancing. Avoid travelling. And prepare for when this would arrive. We have had our first case and the plans is to move to the next stage to dramatically lessen the impact on us so that health systems can cope and we keep people safe. In the interim our economic health will suffer. But this is short term pain to protect people and to shorten the possible economic hurt. Please- this is a time to come together and stop the stupid whining.

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      • Anonymous says:

        This regime has not ordered people to stay home. That was Europe’s mistake. Asymptomatic March breakers are still pouring in like nothing has changed.

  21. The Puritan says:

    The only ones not abiding by that are tourist and work permit holders good luck enforcing that it’s clear since there is now going to be downturn in our economy some non essential folks need to be sent home. If you are not going to be of any help by complying with laws of land then you should not be of any harm to our society.

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    • Anonymous says:

      By non essential I expect you mean those who do not contribute to the economy but only take? If the host is shut down the parasite soon die.

  22. Naya Boy says:

    Cayman please read online Miami Herald article re Covid-19 death so you can fully understand that our Tourism minister put us at great risk by allowing this Carnival Corp cruise ship Costa Luminosa to dock after it was turn away by Jamaica because it was suspected of having the virus. Who and why this ship was allowed to dock here is very important? We need to know if passengers and crew were allowed to disembark also. I concur anon 931pm that should be the next concern of our NSC because all destinations will shortly close to Cayman if there is a spike in cases here and they will not be able to leave. if this extends for any period of time this option for the govt should be put in place to reduce Crime and other unpleasant unforeseen situations. But seeing how this is playing out I don’t have much confidence in both them and this governor who only concern is threatening people about spreading false rumours! Now they have a special task force to dispel gossip When all they merely need to do is to join with the local news media outlets in a public/private working relationship to Keep us informed around clock. Instead they and their CIG TV Cluckers spout the govt manipulated and crafted line of all is well in this unity Utopia run a very dishonest political menace.

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    • Anonymous says:

      What a piece of garbage you have written!!!!!

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    • BeaumontZodecloun says:

      It doesn’t matter right now who did what; Mr. Moses and everyone else did what they thought was best for everyone, and have put aside all other interests in the best interests of us all. IMO. We can castigate the various entities and their failures of response when this is all over. Right now, we should be indentifying what we can all do personally to suppress the spread of Covid, and establish new personal protocols to affect those changes.

      We can see what has happened in the rest of the world. We can’t stop the spread, but we can affect our responses. Live has changed for all of us. We don’t know how long the changes will last, nor what lasting repercussions (if any) will endure.

      Please keep your seat backs and tray tables in their upright and locked positions. Better yet, don’t travel. Protect our elders in every way you can imagine. In doing so, you are also protecting a lesser percentage of people from the age of 10 and above who might die due to the influences of Covid.

      Be safe.

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  23. Anonymous says:

    Complete and utter hysteria

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  24. Anonymous says:

    So more than 50 people and there is a fine or maybe jail….. But who exactly?

    The organiser of the event?
    The 51st person that turned up to the event?
    All 51 people?
    Can the 51 people draw straws to decide who takes the hit?

    Seriously, this is not possible to enforce through fines and jail. You rely on the support of the people. Nobody wants this virus, so you just increase Police patrols and shut down events as you see them. It’s not perfect, but then again it’s uncharted territory.

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  25. Anonymous says:

    I’ll be checking all the churches tomorrow morning myself.

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  26. Anonymous says:

    Thank you Mr. Premier

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  27. Anonymous says:

    So since lots of work permit holders will be out of a job and not making money. Send them home. Employers can’t pay them if they are making money. We don’t want a new surge of robberies because work permit holders plus locals don’t have enough resources to go around. The island is very small. So if you’re in a workplace where you are not working for 60 days you should go home.

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    • Chris Johnson says:

      Whilst I do not share all your views you raise a very serious point , crime. There will be a huge surge in crime. We must all be vigilant.

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    • Anonymous says:

      This makes no sense whatsoever. In two months all these folks will have to be relocated back here. Plus while they’re away they could catch the virus and bring it back. And what do you think would happen to the real estate market if ever expat going through a tough time left?

      It’s time for teamwork not xenophobia.

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    • Crab in a bucket says:

      Cayman Kind

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    • Anonymous says:

      The grand cayman ” experiment ” was always doomed to implode at some point, highly unsustainable and failure prone. Covid-19 has just expedited the inevitable.

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    • Anonymous says:

      I don’t think you need worry. A lot are already going home given the economics of the island. I think we need to look at this as an Ivan type event, look at the lessons learnt from that, and apply to this situation.

    • George Towner says:

      Right … Send home to get infected. Then when they return spread it on us. All that work for nothing.

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    • Anonymous says:

      How should they go back home…most countries have travel bans in place and some airlines have suspended some flights!! Would you pay for thousands of charter plane trips to fly each and everyone of them back to their country?

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      • Anonymous says:

        Cayman Airways can take people home for free. The flights were already paid for by repatriation fees.

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  28. Anonymous says:

    What’s a “public place”? The beach? George Town dock? Smith’s Cove? A car park? A sidewalk? The courts? The LA? The outdoor areas at Camana Bay?

    And since when were restaurants and stores and churches “public places”? They’re private places to which the public has access on certain terms. I don’t think they even fall within the law as it’s drafted. Surely it has to be clear on at least this?

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    • Anonymous says:

      Shut all Hotels down then?

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    • Anonymous says:

      why do you all pretend to be so stupid in the face of a serious reality; the intent is to reduce the number of persons gathering in confined spaces, which has the potential to increase the possibility of asymptomatic spread and result in the spread of the contagion…..

      Stop trying to be so legalistic and try to work through this as caring concerned citizens.

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      • Anonymous says:

        too late. Should have done that the first day China announced about it.

      • Anonymous says:

        I wrote the original post. I’m not “pretending to be stupid” (whatever that means) and I promise I’m not trying to be “legalistic”; I’m taking this as seriously as everyone else.

        So seriously, in fact, that I want watertight legislation in place to enforce anything that reduces the spread. These regulations make no sense whatever and were clearly rushed through without serious thought. As a result they will prove unenforceable, however many thumbs-down you give my comment. All because of a failure to consult and a desire to be seen to be doing something.

        In a nutshell, they are incompetently drafted and therefore useless.

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  29. Anonymous says:

    From an Italian Doctor: “Fatality is the wrong yardstick. Catching the virus can mess up your life in many, many more ways than just straight-up killing you. “We are all young”—okay. “Even if we get the bug, we will survive”—fantastic. How about needing four months of physical therapy before you even feel human again. Or getting scar tissue in your lungs and having your activity level restricted for the rest of your life. Not to mention having every chance of catching another bug in hospital, while you’re being treated or waiting to get checked with an immune system distracted even by the false alarm of an ordinary flu. No travel for leisure or business is worth this risk.” #StaytheF#$%home #Canceleverything

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    • Anonymous says:

      Jeez, calm down. Get in a coffin, if you can’t cope with life’s challenges.

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      • Anonymous says:

        And you should go watch more of your Fox News. Sean Hannity will keep you safe.

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      • Anonymous says:

        You’ll be uturning on your attitude soon enough. That’s from a frontline doctor in Italy that now has to practice “catastrophe medicine”.

    • Anonymous says:

      8:43 He might have picked that up from the Hong Kong doctor who revealed that patients had recovered but lost 20-30% of their lung function. That story broke on Friday. The only problem is it’s hard to judge at this stage whether the damage is being caused by COVID-19 itself or the side-effects of the cocktails of drugs being used to treat it. Guess we’ll find out in the coming weeks?

  30. Anonymous says:

    So groups of 50 or less won’t have Coronavirus? We need to be adults, practice social distancing, wash our hands more often than normal and stay home if you feel sick. Corralling people into smaller groups may help to some degree but it only takes one person to infect the entire 50, then what? Get thermal imaging and check temperatures of passengers arriving by air and sea both tourists and residents..

    Let’s be proactive rather than reactive. We don’t have enough Police to monitor this and how are we going to find space to put 50 plus people in jail if they get caught.. We need to think this through properly and stop being so paranoid..

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    • Anonymous says:

      Yeah, agree. Madness overtook before virus did.

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    • Anonymous says:

      It’s here, that’s not paranoia, but fact.

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    • Anonymous says:

      When hundreds of overwhelmed frontline healthcare professionals plea for others not to take their approach, we set ourselves up on a collision course for deaths and permanent injuries. That is not paranoia, we are just two weeks away from living their nightmare, and with less intelligent leadership.

  31. Anonymous says:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo81j6o97Z4
    From the middle of the fire.
    Please listen to the victims.

  32. Anonymous says:

    Where did our world traveling Coronavirus exposing self important government officials come up with the number 50!

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  33. Anonymous says:

    I still saw church people on the road today waiting to go to church.
    They are uneducated and not informed about what is going on here.

    It is people like anthony eden that are misguiding the people..

    This is a real danger people !!!! Listen to authorities and not your pastor or anthony eden.

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  34. Anonymous says:

    Interesting since just last night several restaurants I know for sure had over 80 guests at a time on top of staff in close proximity. Are the owners of these establishments going to be held responsible?

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    • Anonymous says:

      Atlantis Submarines is running ads for their night tours…yellow pages littering everyone’s door with books we don’t want…tone deaf to so many things.

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    • Anonymous says:

      It depends wether or not they are Caymanian.

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      • Anonymous says:

        I know what you’re hinting at…but I strongly disagree. It’s about haves and have-nots and the haves (Caymanian or not) get away with what they want. That’s it.

      • Anonymous says:

        Or closely connected to the government

    • Anonymous says:

      If this is true it’s f*#@ing irresponsible! People, do not go to restaurants. This is a serious disease. Protect yourself. Restaurant owners, don’t protect your bottom line at the expense of loosing a grandparent.

  35. Born Kaymanian says:

    Can somebody tell me what measures the government is taking against price gouging?

    A friend told me today she went into Fosters and saw the cost of water increased. Also heard the seller in one store, increased alcohol to 5 dollats – a level much higher than is considered reasonable or fair.

    Cns, I would like know if these sellers can be NAMED AND SHAMED

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  36. Caymanian gathering says:

    Whislt all these same people will be in the supermarkets rubbing shoulders in hysteria makes sense to me.
    Small and medium size businesses are seriously suffering, considering laying off staff (especially bars and restaurants) but the owners of these supermarkets are making a fortune.

    CNS, has there been any information released by government

    will there be a cancellation of pension payments.

    Will companies have to pay employees if government force them to close?

    Speaking to landlords regarding rents?

    Utility payments?

    Water bill?

    Canada has restrictions of crowds no larger than 250 persons. I would like to know why 50 was the magic number not 75 or 100?

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    • Anonymous says:

      For starters, because we only have a few dozen ventilators. Everyone should be staying at home. It’s becoming clear that “recovered“ are actually “survivors” with lung scar tissue damage and are much diminished breathing ability, some will be for the rest of their lives. Italy/Europe initially dismissed threat as a “bad flu” that affected older weaker people, and exacerbated by “bad Chinese healthcare”, but it’s become clear it’s so much worse than that. We need to read what Italian doctors – now practicing “catastrophe medicine” and battlefield triage on > 20k – are saying.

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      • Anonymous says:

        who was looking into the lungs of thousands people for scars? Only people who have respiratory distress are treated and x-rayed. Italy hospitals overwhelmed and people under 55 have priority. This is shocking. But true. Those over 55, even if they are dying have to wait. That is why mortality is very high over there.

    • Why only 50 says:

      The supermarkets make out like bandets, they all have restaurants inside, are they forced to only allow 50 people? No of course not.
      Just reading an article fr the CI commerce dept ( Mr Joey), now stating that the 50 people include people in the premises and out? How can restaurant owners force people to leave a compound or car park? This means that Camana Bay is only allowed 50 on the compound at any one time around all those restaurants? Lmao surely customer being outside is better than being inside.

      You are going to see alot of these businesses close, the Camana bay ones are fine Dart just won’t charge rent as he doesn’t want to loose any tenants.
      Other Landlords want their rent, I already know of one business that has asked the landlord is there will be any wiggle room in rent when things get tough and or closed ( shopping mall on SMB) and has been told no, they expect their rent as per the lease agreement.

      I hope government is willing to assist small and medium size businesses locally owned.

      1
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    • Anonymous says:

      In U S A
      is 25

  37. Anonymous says:

    The Regulation fails to define “public places” and furthermore penalises only those who “hold” meetings in them, NOT those who merely attend them.

    Don’t tell me those are the same thing: I’m holding a meeting and you’re attending it. The difference is obvious.

    I suppose in the case of a church it’s the poor old preacher (who “holds“ the meeting) who’ll get prosecuted, and not the congregation, who attend it.

    And Regulation 3 exempts establishments “such as” pharmacies, supermarkets, etc. What does that mean? There are other spaces that are exempted which we have to determine by, what, guesswork?

    This is rushed, ill-considered and ill-drafted legislation. The Drafting Dept should be ashamed of itself. And it’ll be unenforceable, mark my words.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Unenforceable. By the time a cop counts to 50, there would be 49. What if 49 people were scheduled to attend, but 51 showed up?

    • Anonymous says:

      “Poor old preacher”? He or she should be encouraging EVERYONE to stay home, never mind keeping it below 50! Worship and pray to God at home for Christ’s sake! Covid-19 is serious, so pray to God (at home) that it’s not your Grandmother that succumbs to this illness.

  38. Anonymous says:

    Legal basis for his statement? Looks like overkill. Who exactly out of 50 would be jailed?

    Do they even have enough rooms in jail? Are cells 3 feet apart? Easy in theory, difficult in practice.

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  39. Anonymous says:

    Lol, yeah right.

  40. Anonymous says:

    Finally. Some leadership being shown.

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