Health
Vaccine mandate for permit holders lifted
(CNS): The legal requirement for non-Caymanian residents and their dependents to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 has been lifted. From Friday, applicants for work permits (new and renewals), permanent residency, specialist caregiver certificates, student visas or Cabinet entry permits, as well as dependents no longer need to prove they are vaccinated, according to government officials.
POF and CIS students fill up 18 bags of beach trash
(CNS): Grade 2 students from Cayman International School (CIS) took part in a beach clean-up at Safe Haven hosted by Protect Our Future (POF) last Thursday to mark World Oceans Day and to highlight the problem of single-use plastics in the Cayman Islands. As the country waits for the details of a proposed ban on eight […]
Plastic ban to include eight single-use items
(CNS): Almost four years since the previous administration formed a committee to look at a ban on single-use plastic in the Cayman Islands, a proposal is finally going to Cabinet that could put an end to the importation of eight plastic items. Premier Wayne Panton revealed the news in a social media message for World […]
600+tons of garbage cleared in bulk clean-up
(CNS): In less than one month and just six months after the last bulk-waste clean-up, the Department of Environmental Health (DEH) collected over 600 tons of garbage in the re-scheduled annual clean-up. That’s almost double the 330 tonnes collected during the Christmas season operation and another illustration of Cayman’s excessive garbage generation.
Anti-tobacco UN treaty extended to Cayman
(CNS): The World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) has been extended to the Cayman Islands, the first UK Overseas Territory in the region to request and receive this extension. Cayman officials said that the FCTC, one of the most rapidly and widely embraced treaties in the history of the United Nations, would […]
New horror revealed in sargassum blob
(CNS): Scientists have discovered that a flesh-eating bacteria is interacting with sargassum and decaying plastic in the ocean, creating the perfect “pathogen” storm that has implications for both marine life and public health. Researchers at Florida Atlantic University have found that the bacteria might be adapting to plastic and living in sargassum, washing up on […]
Dump deal not done 2,057 days after Dart won bid
(CNS): Five years, seven months and 18 days after it was selected as the preferred bidder in October 2017 by the PPM government, the Dart Group has still not signed the deal that will see it roll out the long-awaited waste-management project, known as ReGen. Premier Wayne Panton announced Monday that the parties have agreed […]
Counsellors see increase in traumatised patients
(CNS): More and more clients are now presenting to the Department of Counselling Services (DCS) with complex and varied problems that they have endured over a long period of time as a result of multiple traumatic events in their lives. This week’s edition of the health ministry’s Spotlight looks closely at mental health, and Jason Dunkley, […]
Some Caymanians could get free access to NHS in UK
(CNS): A very limited number of Caymanian patients could soon have free access to National Health Service hospitals and other health services in the UK after Britain and its territories reached a new deal at the recent Joint Ministerial Council in London. Currently, only the people of the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar have unlimited access […]
HSA drops mask mandate and ban on COVID patients’ visitors
(CNS): It is no longer mandatory to wear masks in Health Services Authority facilities except for specific areas where patients are particularly vulnerable. The HSA has also finally lifted the ban on visitors of COVID-positive patients. However, anyone with COVID-19 or flu symptoms or those around patients at risk of COVID-19 infection must still wear […]
MRCU takes aim at larvae ahead of rain
(CNS): Ahead of the first major rainfall of the year, the Mosquito Research and Control Unit has begun the annual pre-hatch treatment of mosquito larvae across the Cayman Islands’ major breeding sites. This is a preventative control method that kills the pests before they develop into biting adults looking for a blood meal.
