Tag: Omicron variant
XBB found in local COVID tests but BA.5 dominates
(CNS): As 2023 gets underway and three years after the COVID-19 virus arrived in the Cayman Islands, variants of the original strain are still infecting dozens of people here. According to the latest edition of the Public Health Department’s Spotlight report, the highly contagious XBB variant has been detected in local samples here but the […]
Omicron B2 variant turns up in test results
(CNS): Public Health officials have revealed that the new Omicron variant, BA.2, has been discovered in the Cayman Islands. The highly contagious nature of this latest strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which was identified here on 3 February, might explain why so many people have been in isolation over the last week. This latest variant […]
COVID-19 cases soar again over weekend
(CNS): Interim Chief Medical Officer Dr Autilia Newton has reported that there were 843 new positive cases of COVID-19 over the weekend, including eleven in the Sister Islands, and that the number of patients in hospital had climbed to 15 after seven new admissions.
Quarantine rules relaxed for vaxed Omicron cases
(CNS): Public Health officials have announced a relaxation in quarantine and isolation requirements for those testing positive for the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2. As this variant becomes the dominant strain in the Cayman Islands, the rules have reverted to those in place before it emerged. With immediate effect, people who are positive with any strain […]
Another major leap in Omicron cases reported
(CNS): There were 466 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 reported on Thursday evening, as the Omicron variant is causing another surge in COVID-19 infections. From the latest positive cases, 41 were in travellers and the rest were due to community transmission, including ten new cases in the Sister Islands.
Twelfth person with COVID-19 dies
(CNS): Public Health officials have confirmed that a patient who was hospitalised with COVID-19 died Thursday. No further details of the individual have been confirmed but CNS has learned the woman was unvaccinated and had been admitted to the hospital as a result of COVID-19 and not other health issues.
COVID cases surge but CMO may cut isolation time
(CNS): With an additional 361 new cases of COVID-19 detected over the Christmas holiday, active cases in Cayman are approaching 4,000, though hospital admissions have fallen to just four patients. Meanwhile, after the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its guidelines, Interim Chief Medical Officer Dr Autilia Newton said the current isolation […]
Omicron tally likely over 100 cases
(CNS): Public Health officials have confirmed a total of 44 cases of Omicron in the Cayman Islands and are continuing to investigate another 59 suspected cases, after another 25 test results on Thursday appeared to be the more contagious variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Suspected daily omicron cases rising rapidly
(CNS): As expected, given the increased transmissiblility of this latest variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the number of new Omicron cases is rising, and there were 18 new suspected cases on Wednesday, compared to ten on Tuesday. There are 72 suspected cases of the new variant, which are going through genomic sequencing, in addition to […]
Two more lives lost to COVID-19
(CNS): The death toll from the SARS-CoV-2 virus increased to eleven on Tuesday as two more patients died who were positive for COVID-19. No specific details were released about the victims but officials said that from the nine deaths this year in Cayman in patients who acquired the virus during the community outbreak which began […]
Minister and his PS locked down with Omicron
(CNS): Planning Minister Jay Ebanks and Parliamentary Secretary Isaac Rankine are locked down for the Christmas holidays after testing positive for COVID-19, officials have confirmed. The men will also be locked down with their immediate families for two weeks because, despite being vaccinated and having had a booster shot, the men are suspected of having […]
