No more local COVID cases as tracing ends
(CNS): With more than 10,000 COVID-19 tests carried out over the last two weeks, Chief Medical Officer Dr John Lee confirmed Thursday that there were no additional local cases in the day’s test results and that the contact tracing and testing in relation to both the North Side and the George Town Primary School outbreaks were complete.
The CMO said he was expecting a few more people who are currently in isolation as a result of these outbreaks to be positive after their isolation periods come to an end over the next few days. But with just 25 local transmissions recorded in those 10,000 results, the outbreaks appear to have been contained.
Speaking at a press briefing on Thursday afternoon, both Premier Wayne Panton and Health Minister Sabrina Turner gave an indication that the pause in Cayman’s border reopening plan may be back on track much sooner that indicated when the decision to pause was made last week.
Given the increase in the national vaccination rate, learning lessons regarding how public health systems worked following a community outbreak and the absence of any serious illness, particularly among the infected children from these two recent outbreaks, the government appears focused on building up public confidence to enable the lifting of quarantine restrictions, probably by November.
Panton said all of this “has put us in a good position” as the government works towards putting Cayman in a place where the quarantine rules can be relaxed and tourism re-started, despite the temporary introduction this week of a new restrictions.
New regulations, which come into force Friday, apply largely to social gathering numbers. This will impact restaurants and bars and other social venues as well as events like weddings and galas. The limit on people gathering indoors is now 100 and the limit outside is 250.
If community spread remains contained, the regulations could be revisited within a couple of weeks, Turner, said as government continues to balance health and safety of people against the health of the local business community.
See all of the new regulations here.
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Category: Health, Medical Health
Still waiting on her ridiculous video series….
Is it just me or is anyone else wondering why this PACT government’s mandate that students in all public and private schools wear masks starting Friday morning, 24 Sept was not even mentioned at the press conference, and 2 hours later it was published.
Why the late-night announcement after a two-hour press conference where PACT leaders talked about how they were going to issue new regulations in response to recent community outbreaks of COVID-19, including one that affected 18 students at George Town Primary School.
Are they afraid questions would be asked? One Minister keep checking her copy of the regs as she didn’t seem to recall what was in them.
Three sets of regs on the same topic in 3 days? How can anyone have confidence in the group of amateurs.
Fact is that school children are the biggest spreaders … that’s just a fact. So masks for them makes sense if you don’t want a big outbreak.
The people we should be questioning are the irresponsible parents of the kid who was originally sent to school whilst being unwell, only to be tested when in school for Covid- and testing positive.
Turks and Caicos are eating our lunch with a common sense opening approach. Cayman handed them their best Summer tourists season ever! PACT = Panic stricken And Can’t be Trusted.
Compare their number of deaths due to Covid to ours….
What price a life ???
What’s that saying – “famous last words”?.
“Speaking at a press briefing on Thursday afternoon, both Premier Wayne Panton and Health Minister Sabrina Turner gave an indication that the pause in Cayman’s border reopening plan may be back on track much sooner that indicated when the decision to pause was made last week.”
I believe one or more ministers threatened to cross the floor if the reopening was not paused, hence the panic of last weeks “plan”.
Now a week has passed and they have agreed to stay and accept an “opening” if we do these mask and lockdown mandates.
I hope you are right and they can make a plan and stick to it.
We look like fools to out tourists that where and are booked.
Not that covid free stuff again….
Ok Premier you got the clown car full. The PACT are a disgrace and embarrassment to the Islands and now cements the fact we have a ineffective government. Sabrina has no qualifications to be a minister and should be on the backbench. No speechwriter can ever make her sound smart. Good job Premier on your response to absence of the governor, it only made you look even more stupid. You keep on claiming to follow the science yet your actions show the opposite. Clearly we need a new ruling party.
“No speechwriter can ever make her sound smart”
Yes, well, it’s difficult as clearly her reading and comprehension skills could use some significant improvement.
Then again, at least she is not blathering on about donkeys and full moons.
He made more sense.
Anon 3:12 pm; You are obviously someone with a warped mentality. Putting someone down doesn’t put you on a higher level. I’m not 100 percent satisfied with what PACT has accomplished, but I still have confidence that they will make the Cayman Islands a better place to live. Think about it.
“The CMO said he was expecting a few more people who are currently in isolation as a result of these outbreaks to be positive after their isolation periods come to an end over the next few days”
By that he means he’ll make sure a few are “positive”! 😉 Gotta support PACT’s “we need to wait mentality”. Most people test positive within a couple days of contracting it….especially if it’s Delta variant. No need for these extended quarantines and, worse, making people have to stay in quarantine until negative even if 14 days are up.
Someone call the Queen! Maybe the Governor can text her or at least send a shocked face emoji to her. 😯
I am disappointed with what seems to be irrational and disproportionate decision-making by the PACT.
PPM were not any better and had no plan to reopen— Alden McLaughlin recently clarified this (in different words) on a group chat.
I almost feel sorry for the PACT, who are really the laughing stock of the Cayman Islands.
Be careful what you ask for, because you just might get it.
Well they have earned the scorn being shown to them.
Does virus now enters through skin? My face mask looks too small compared to the one on the photo. Please advise, I want to be 100% protected. Oh, I also have a scratch on my neck after shaving, face mask doesn’t extend that far, what should I do?
You probably should just go back to bed.
No more local cases………..but let’s get those masks back on!!! You could not make this **** up !
Will someone please come over from the UK and open the borders.
We have a govt that doesn’t listen to the science,
Whave a governor who thinks Covid was gone until smugglers brought it back.
WTF
Direct Rule Now!
This government is a hot piece of pure garbage. So bad that they make PPM look good. I have no hope anymore, the Cayman Islands will never have a competent government. I’m not going to vote or do anything next election because it really doesn’t matter who you vote for since they just wheel and deal behind closed doors anyways. Clown world…
Yes. Do not comply and lets think about what government should be and what powers they should have. These last 2 years have truly highlighted how garbage our governments really are. We need to come together and demand true change through non compliance.
Then why the new restrictions!? This is just ridiculous now… People are getting fed up. Even those who, like myself, have complied with all these mad rules and regulations this whole time. People are getting restless, fed up and angry. This is not sustainable in the long run.
Look in the mirror. Sheep like you just hand over more authority and power to a bunch of 3rd rate politicians based on CNN
In case our Minister thinks that she has things under control, perhaps she should consider talking to her counterpart in Bermuda. The following statement was given by the Bermuda Health Minister in their Parliament today:
“The incubation period for COVID-19 is between two and 14 days, and that sets the quarantine period.
Mr Speaker, after an outbreak of COVID-19 in March and April of this year, Bermuda enjoyed a relatively calm early and mid- summer. However, the island is again mired in a very serious outbreak of COVID-19 fueled by a coronavirus ‘variant of concern’ – the Delta strain…
The reality remains that the virus which causes the disease COVID-19 arrives in Bermuda via travellers. As we grapple with the current outbreak, we cannot lose sight of the need to keep our borders strong.
Therefore, the 14 day quarantine requirement for unvaccinated travellers will remain in place but they will be expected to quarantine at home after 30 September…
Mr Speaker, the travellers who undergo the 14 day quarantine will be fitted with an electronic monitoring device and a red wristband. They will be required to remain at their accommodation for the full period. The only tests they must have are the arrival test and their day 14 test…
Mr Speaker, I am reminded that at the beginning of this marathon of a global pandemic, our main measure of success was that we would not overwhelm our health system. At this point, unfortunately, we are not succeeding.”
Vaccination rates are a lot lower in Bermuda
No they are not
Does it really matter?
UNVACINATED!
Only Vaccinated people can skip isolation if we open!
No vaccine stops covid
Temporary – until 22 November is not temporary in anyone’s book. Thats damn near 2 months FFS.
What qualifications does this person have to be the Minister of Health. Not an inspiring person at all. What a shame.
About as much as John John did.
I wouldn’t knock Sabrina too hard. Historically, very few ministers have had the qualifications to be in their role. It’s nothing now. We vote, they get in, then decide or negotiate what role they’ll take.
Remember John John didn’t have the qualifications for health minister either. Neither did the health minister before him.
Qualifications ?
She’s UDP.
How on earth do you expect to have qualified people when you aren’t even drawing from 50% of the population.
Unless they intend to open voting (and the ability to become an elected representative) to more of the island’s population you will continue to get 2nd raters.
They are Caymanian. Clearly everyone knows that they are much smarter than any trained and experienced expat.
Now that’s funny! Thanks for the laugh.
We are so lucky that Covid did not spread further. In contrast, this is what the Premier of Bermuda had to say in an address to that nation on Wednesday;
“Good Afternoon Bermuda, I would firstly like to extend my condolences and deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of those members of our community whom we have lost during this outbreak…
Bermuda, we must always remember that the statistics we read and discuss each and every day are real people. They are fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters, real people who leave loved ones behind. They are friends to you and friends to me as well. Each time I hear of another reported coronavirus related death, I personally worry that it could be a friend of mine who I know is battling this disease in the hospital. Indeed, this is a challenging time for us all.”
Lets hope our Premier does not have to make that type of speech if quarantine is dropped.
The Bermuda Minister of Health has mentioned numerous times that the vast majority of hospitalizations and 100% of the deaths have been in unvaccinated.
None of the dead or those that had serious illness were under 18 years.
What opening in November now. I am confused cant imagine what the airline and tourism industry must be thinking.
Its OK Cayman Airways already has two flights a day from MIA from November.
Now they can keep the ghost flights they where selling.
I bought one.
No one hospitalized…. Why can’t we just learn to live with it?
That Press Briefing was a National Embarrassment!
How hard is it to start on time and eliminate the waffle. I don’t think anyone who watched thought it was needed given how little they said.
It is totally inconsiderate they dont start on time. The hell with the thousand people watching.
Have these politicians ever had a business meeting and left others waiting?
They should have their wages docked.
CI$1000 for every minute they are late.
5k for Panton, because he is really worth it.
Perhaps government could conduct a poll in a few weeks to see what the public thinks of the return of masking, restaurant restrictions, etc.. and the threat of school closures and lockdowns if we drop quarantine. I doubt that they would do that as it might anger their private sector bosses.
I vote “no thank you.”
The man playing Russian roulette having pulled the trigger for the first time without lethal consequence is heard to say;
“The fact that I am still alive proves that I have mastered this game. There is nothing to worry about pulling the trigger again.”
“Panton said all of this “has put us in a good position” as the government works towards putting Cayman in a place where the quarantine rules can be relaxed and tourism re-started, despite the temporary introduction this week of a new restrictions.”
He does realize all of this will just happen again right? Soon as quarantine is dropped and we move into phase 4, covid will be right back in the schools again. So I ask what was the point of all of this?
When we reopen and covid is in the schools again do we have to quarantine EVERYONE from parents to students for 14 days? It’s ridiculous. Panton has no plan and no idea what he’s doing other than making all of our lives miserable trying to prevent a virus most of us are fully vaccinated against.
Except COVID in the school had nothing to do with Phase 4. Just unfortunate random timing.
We got lucky. No reasonable government would take anything more from the low numbers detected with the recent outbreak.
We are all vaccinated! That is why there were no serious symptoms, not luck!
It is good news that no more community cases have been detected in the last few days. We are lucky in that regard. Meanwhile in Singapore:
“Singapore’s health ministry has reported 1,650 new cases; the greatest number since the beginning of the pandemic.
A recent rise in cases after the relaxation of some measures has prompted Singapore to pause further reopening. More than 80% of its population has been vaccinated against the virus, Reuters reports.”
The news regs criminalise being within 6ft of another person in public – a criminal offence!! Does the madness of PACT never end. These restrictions also basically kill brunch! Another nail in the coffin of restaurants. I mean who would even want to visit here now.
OH FFS you could probably lose a few pounds and stop drinking for one day
I don’t drink … but thanks for the concern about me and not the businesses and soon to be unemployed staff.
Keep the borders closed. Save Christmas!
Open the borders. Save Christmas!
(you can go hide in your house by yourself all Christmas break).
#November 15th
#October1st
“Panton said all of this “has put us in a good position” as the government works towards putting Cayman in a place where the quarantine rules can be relaxed and tourism re-started, despite the temporary introduction this week of a new restriction”
“A good position…” that statement is laughable.
Seriously Panton? How can you restart tourism when you flipped out over finding covid in the community? If by restarting you mean you will go back to the phased reopening plan and the moment there is another community case of Covid start running in fear, why bother? You and your government don’t give a damn about tourism. You have made that abundantly clear.
Is anyone else as completely fed up of all this crap as I am? There’s unfortunately going to be a point where everyone is sick to death of living their lives like prisoners and just think stuff it we’re no longer adhering to these nonsense rules.
Non compliance is needed.
What if there are businesses and restaurants that we see not following mask mandates? Is there a number to call to report them?
Are you actually serious?! What the hell is wrong with you!
Yes,
the number that you call should be all your friends so that they can go to those businesses and restaurants and enjoy a normal life.
Or on the other hand you could tell all your friends to stay hidden under their beds.
People like you should stay home!
You are an idiot.
Yawn. Open the damn border Wayne
Fix the damn dump while you’re at it.
Fix the traffic too
Against my better judgement I sat through the self-congratulatory back-patting and platitudes of yesterday’s briefing and thought “nothing new here”. Today I read that the new regs include mandatory masks and social distancing. Did Turner lie yesterday or did Panton get it wrong when he stressed that it was better to go slow and get the regs right than publish wrong info (again)? I see a vote of No Confidence on the horizon…
So do I. This will certainly put McKeeva back in the mix for Premier. No one will be able to stop Kee Kee then.
Someone needs to put these 3!%÷^@■《●¡° politicians back in their place.
Mandating the most ridiculous BS I have ever heard of and we have zero local cases that are not in isolation.
Motion of no confidence, someone please, for the love of Mary!
Remember that politicians want to rule over you. No matter how altruistic they sound, they still want to achieve your ‘well being’ by ruling over you.