New rules don’t reflect border opening date
(CNS): Changes to of some of the existing COVID-19 restrictions, including an increase in the number of people allowed to attend outdoor public gatherings, all of which have been put in place for three months, do not have any impact on the border opening date, officials have said. New regulations and a notice to extend inter-island travel and boat rules were gazetted Wednesday and will last until 15 April. But this does not mean that government’s goal to open the borders at the end of March has been revised.
Following reports on social media that government was pushing back the target date of late March to reopen the borders, officials from the premier’s office said there was no particular significance to the end date for the new regulations, other than “convenience” and it would be “incorrect to construe any meaning beyond the specific context”.
The main changes in the new Prevention, Control and Suppression of Covid-19 Regulations is the increase on outdoor gatherings from 500 people to a maximum of 1,000, but indoor social gatherings remain restricted to 500 people. Where a venue hosts simultaneous but separate and unrelated indoor and outdoor gatherings, it will be permitted to have 1,500 people across the two different locations.
Processions and parades involving a uniformed service or a youth organisation will also now be permitted.
The amendments also include an extension to 15 April of current boating regulations as well as around-island and inter-island travel by boat and air. These were set to expire on 31 January.
Other protocols that remain unchanged from the previous regulations continue to be in force and need to be followed to ensure the continued management of the virus in Cayman. This includes a ban on visiting or having contact with anyone in quarantine, mandatory testing before visiting a residential care home or prison, and the wearing of masks when using public transportation.
A ban also remains in place on hookahs, shishas or water pipes, and restrictions on the rental of certain scuba and snorkelling equipment.
Public transport operators are again reminded that everyone travelling in a taxi or bus, including the drivers, must wear a mask when inside the vehicles.
For more details, visit the CIG coronavirus website.
Visit government’s Gazettes website to see the new and existing COVID-19 regulations:
Category: Health, Medical Health
PLEASE allow another withdrawal from the pension plan during this challenging time. The returns on those pension funds are pathetic relative to Nasdaq and S&P500. Total scam those pension plan managers making millions while grossly underperforming the benchmarks that simple $9 ETF purchase would like QQQ and VOO massively outperform.
Investment managers are as useless as paying a travel agent to book your flight in today’s time when you can easily book online. Almost as big of a rip off as getting your car repaired at GT.
No stimulus cheques then have another pension plan withdrawal PLEASE!!!!!
The Government plan of no deaths because of community transmission is simply the best plan ever.
Shut up and enjoy the safety and tranquility that CIG has expertly provided for you.
I will be vaccinated both doses by March & can get the Covid test. When are your borders opening? Is it March! April? Summer? Next year? Lol
LOL….Next year I bet!
I think the just announced policy of the U.S to require all arriving international travellers to quarantine for 2 weeks will slow things down a bit.
USA has no requirement to Isolate international travellers.
One state in the USA has a legal Requirement for people from the UK or South Africa.
I’m on the “there is no plan” band wagon. I don’t like it but it is what it is. Reopening to individuals that have proof they are vaccinated sounds good but as someone else mentioned kids under 16 won’t be vaccinated. I know some people want the borders to remain closed until the rest of the world has Covid under control, I know some want the borders opened now. Somewhere in the middle is the best plan…but we need a government that can come up with such a plan and IMHO we don’t have such a government.
If there is no REAL plan to reopen before the end of 2021 I feel certain those folks with businesses dependent on tourism will be very lucky to still be here in 2022.
How does everyone expect the government to come up with a concrete plan when, globally, COVID is running rampant and most countries are back in a lockdown? I’ve noted that all the people demanding we follow Bermuda have now gone quiet given that plan did not work out and they are also back to restrictions. We are very very fortunate to essentially be living our lives as normal here. Tourism is incredibly important but not at the sacrifice of the 10s of thousands of others living here. I think we all know that if community spread pops up again we’re going right back into lockdown.
Government here has done an excellent job of protecting our people, getting us back to our normal day-to-day and ensuring we don’t have to go back into lockdown again.
Mr Alden does have a plan. Keep Cayman closed till everyone outside and inside Cayman have been vaccinated.
The government has stated yhey had planned for travellers with vaccine and negative test on arrival to not require quarantine, starting in the planned March opening. They have also stated that present travellers with vaccine and negative arrival test still need to quarantine. One can only surmise the reason for this incredibly illogical and inconsistent position to be based on having the island vaccinated first before allowing travellers.
This plan is utopia, but blinded pursuit of achieving utopia has its costs.
The election is coming up and I suspect the government plans to enjoy opening the island just in time for the election.
Caymanians need to decide if all the measures were worth the cost, or if more thoughtful, reasonable measures could have been a better balance of safety and economics.
Simpleton logic doesn’t factor that sparing 700+ loved ones from a suffocating, lonely, premature deaths in Hazmat death-wards; the hum of generators for freezer containers; the horror of trenching their mass graves, and bulldozing their bodies into the pit; these were all the real-world avoided costs we all invested in. Our community achieved a rare and miraculous situation, and we want it to stay that way. By comparison, we, collectively, are not particularly sorry for the greedy, pro-port, corrupt millionaire, 1% Lodge members, that couldn’t fling as many greasy cheeseburgers, shot glasses, and stingray tours as a consequence of doing the right thing. Economically, >75% of our GDP didn’t even notice, and mercifully, only 2 deaths. That is a very enviable and reasonable equation by any measure, if facts matter.
The idea that “700+” people in Cayman would have succumbed if the border had been open is farcical.
Pastor Alfredo
Your 700 deaths assumes the entire population catches Covid and is symptomatic.
Your post is incredibly irresponsible and full of non truth scare tactic hysteria. Shame on you, you are not helpful in any form of reasonable discussion.
Reality changes day after day and so too must plans….
Glad to know I can have a party for 500. For a while there I thought I might be limited to some reasonable number.
People who advocate for restrictions against personal liberties like you don’t have friends and most definitely don’t “party”. I suspect you spend 99% of your time in your basement refusing to acknowledge that covid isn’t even remotely as dangerous as you were duped to believe.
#1 you misunderstood 8:22 comment.
#2 can’t you express your opinion without resorting to insults?
#3 you and people like you already know that it is impossible to change people’ believes in regards to covid vaccines. Let them do what they want, only time will tell who is (was) right.
There are few possible outcomes from COVID vaccinations:
· the reported number of infected with severe symptoms would drop dramatically among those who got vaccinated
· there won’t be any deaths reported from covid among people who got vaccinated
· there would be reported a dramatic reduction in hospitalizations with covid among people who got vaccinated
Or none of the above will happen.
It will all depend on who is counting and reporting.
And without corresponding tracking of immediate and long term side effects the “victory” (or a failure)can’t be declared.
I guess nobody expects to develop Narcolepsy, Chronic fatigue syndrome, Brain fog, Autoimmune disorders, Autonomic dysfunctions, Fibromialgia, etc, etc.. several months after receiving COVID vaccine. In fact, hardly any doctor would connect your symptoms to the vaccine. It would be impossible to prove; yet, your suffering would be real.
Like I said, only time will tell.
Thanks. Trying to see the humorous side of things is not much appreciated around here. Meanness is often the dominant theme.
Very few basements here, but I take your point.
Well, you’re certainly not getting an invitation!
there is no plan form no-plan-ppm. they have not even got a firm vaccination plan.
travel/quarantine restictions will be in place for the rest of 2021.
do the math….20% of population (under 16) cannot take vaccine.
and how many of the rest will voluntarty take the vaccine??…
do the maths!….somebody!
all the dislikes on this comment are people who think closing borders forever with no plan is “a plan”
Yep, if their whole reopening plan is hinged on having 40000+ vaccinated persons like they keep mentioning……borders will stay closed forever.
The Pfizer vaccine can’t be given to persons under age 16 and Moderna can’t be given to those under 18……that means LOTS of the population is ineligible for a vaccine. Of those that are of age, some won’t be eligible due to allergies/autoimmune conditions and some (many?) won’t even want the vaccine.
The Premier and his crew better start re-thinking their reopening “plan”.
here we go again?
march…
april…
august…
december…
…2022?
9:02 pm you didn’t read the article did you? Oh you pig headed nowhere and ho back in the depths of nowhere by any means necessary.
Say it isn’t so! We need a plan and we need it now!